Why Your Furnace and Air Condition Need a Tune-Up
When it comes to machines, a little preventative maintenance, also known as a tune-up, can go a long way towards maintaining the performance of your equipment and ensuring its longevity. Your furnace and air conditioner are no exception: they will run for a period of time even without regular maintenance but will almost certainly suffer from diminished performance and are prone to early failure if neglected.
Performing regular maintenance on your furnace and air conditioner can also save you money on future repairs because the cost of a tune-up is almost always less expensive than the cost to diagnose and repair a non-functioning unit.
Another added benefit of regular maintenance is convenience. While it is impossible to know when a furnace or air conditioner will suffer a breakdown, a neglected furnace or air conditioner is likely to suffer from failures more often than a well-maintained unit. And, those breakdowns are likely to happen on the hottest or coldest days when your equipment is working its hardest. Because extreme weather conditions also impact the homes around you, it’s possible that other homeowners with neglected equipment will be experiencing a similar issue at the same time. This heightened demand can create delays in response times from your local heating and air conditioning technicians and leave you wishing that you’d called for a tune-up before the seasons change along the Wasatch Front.
What to Expect From Your Tune-up
- The Arrival: Your technician should arrive promptly and be respectful of your home by wearing booties or removing their shoes.
- The Checklist: Your technician should do the following:
- check the batteries in your in thermostat;
- check and/or change the air filter;
- check the outdoor condenser and connections that lead into your home;
- check for the presence of carbon monoxide in both the vents and at the flue (this is the furnace’s exhaust);
- clean the flame sensor on the furnace;
- check the pressure in the gas line that feeds your furnace;
- ensure that your furnace and its drain line (if equipped) are oriented correctly;
- ensure that all gas and electrical connections are secured;
- check for any cracks or impingement affecting the heat exchanger or the burners, as these could eventually lead to a carbon monoxide leak; and
- clean the furnace of any dust or other debris.
- The Departure: Before leaving, your technician should talk to you about their assessment. If any issues were detected during the tune-up, they should describe those conditions to you in detail. And, they should show you any issues found during the inspection.
This last point is important—your technician should show you any problems on your furnace or air conditioner. Unfortunately, we have heard horror stories about unscrupulous technicians that will show homeowners “problems” with their furnaces using stock images or pictures taken from previous jobs.
A tune-up is an inexpensive way to ensure that your furnace and air conditioner are operating at peak performance and can save you from costly, untimely repairs (or replacements). Click here to schedule a tune-up with one of the technicians at Blue Best Plumbing, Heating, Air, Generators.
Blue Best Plumbing, Heating, Air, Generators is now offering a “contactless” tune-up service. Contact us today to learn more about this service and how Blue Best Plumbing, Heating, Air, Generators its part to stop the spread of COVID-19.
