Each fall, as the weather starts to cool, HVAC technicians roll up their sleeves, stock up their vans, and get to work doing tune-ups and inspections of home furnaces. It’s one of the most important parts of our job, and we make sure our customers know how vital annual maintenance is for their furnaces. We make it as easy as possible to have the job done with our HomeSavers Club, a maintenance program that provides both heating and air conditioning maintenance during the year.
You may feel tempted to skip maintenance for your gas furnace this fall, thinking that it’s not necessary every year. However, the consequences of missing annual maintenance can be high. Below is a list of what might go wrong if your furnace isn’t given its regular fall tune-up and inspection.
The furnace will become unsafe
We don’t want to scare you, but it’s the truth: a natural gas furnace without regular maintenance is at a much higher risk of running unsafely than one that’s inspected each year. The maintenance check-up looks for all the places where safety hazards might be developing. For example, technicians always carefully look over the heat exchanger to see if minute cracks are developing. A cracked heat exchanger can lead to carbon monoxide escaping into the house—a dangerous problem. Maintenance will put your mind at ease that your furnace is operating at its safest.
The furnace will become unreliable
When the heavy winter weather sets in, the last thing you’ll want to worry about is a heating system that isn’t working or which isn’t providing enough heat. No amount of maintenance can make a furnace 100% free from breakdowns and malfunctions—but maintenance can prevent 85% of breakdowns and malfunctions! That means less inconvenience as well as less money paid to keep the system running.
The furnace will waste money
Each winter a furnace runs, it accumulates dust, dirt, and general wear on its components. Rust may start to develop. Motors lose lubrication. And this will make the furnace drain more power than normal to continue working. On average, a furnace will lose 5% of its energy efficiency each year it misses maintenance, and the dive will get steeper the longer it goes. Annual maintenance prevents unpleasant spikes in your energy bills each winter.
The furnace may go for early retirement
Installing a furnace (or any heating system) is an investment in years of comfort. But you won’t get the return on your investment that you want if the furnace misses maintenance. The furnace may end up failing years before it should, forcing you to pay for an early replacement.
If it turns out you do need furnace repair in Plymouth, IN, then you can easily arrange it with your maintenance technician. Many times, the technician can take care of the necessary repairs on the spot. If not, the tech will see the furnace has the repairs it needs before the winter sets in.
