Ways to Boost Your Furnace's Performance

Written by Posted On Thursday, 30 May 2019 16:11

Whenever winter comes around, no other appliance in your home needs to perform at its best than your furnace. With temperatures dropping, your furnace must be Johnny-on-the-spot with the heat the entire season. It can’t have breakdowns or dips in its performance, because if any of that happens, you and your family will be the ones left in the cold, figuratively and literally.

To make sure that your furnace delivers the way it’s supposed to deliver, you have to take active measures that will ensure your family’s comfort even through the coldest days of winter. Here are some tips that would help boost the performance of your furnace installation throughout the cold season.

Have your furnace professionally serviced every year

There is no better way to boost your furnace’s performance than to have it serviced by professionals every year.

When professionals perform a furnace tune-up, you can expect them to do the following:

Inspect the entire unit for cracks and other signs of wear and tear that could cause problems in the future

Check the heat exchanger for cracks or corrosion, as a damaged heat exchanger can significantly reduce a furnace’s lifespan. They will also make sure it’s clean because you don't want it failing because of dirt.

Test airflow, the pilot or ignitor, fuel pressure, thermostat controls, and airflow to make sure everything functions perfectly.

Check the motor parts and see if they need special lubrication. Poorly-lubricated parts can dry out, and that will cause damage to the motor.

Clean the blower, drain line, fan blades, and the outdoor unit to ensure peak performance.

Clean/replace air filter

One of the most common reasons for a furnace to heat inefficiently is poor airflow, and one of the primary reasons for poor airflow is a dirty filter. If you haven’t replaced or cleaned your filter for some time, you can expect it to be coated with dust by now. All that dirt is impeding airflow, which makes it more difficult for your furnace to do its job more effectively.

Dirty air filters also make your furnace work harder just to keep the heating going, and that means more dollars added to the already high utility bill you would expect when the furnace is running. The Department of Energy itself has said that a gas furnace running with a dirty filter can cause a 15% drop in its efficiency.

Clean or replace your furnace filters at least once a month. Never let your filters collect enough dust to give your furnace any measure of airflow trouble.

Seal leaky ducts

Do you notice cold spots in your home even when your furnace is running full blast? If the answer to that is yes, then your duct system may have leaks. Precious heated air could be leaking from cracks, holes, or shabbily-connected ducts, leading not only to a poor performance from your furnace but also skyrocketing utility bills. According to Energy Star, you could be losing up to 20% of heated air from duct leaks.

You must do whatever you can to find those leaks and plug them using mastic-type sealant. You can choose to go the DIY route, or you can call in professionals especially if the leak is in hard-to-reach places.

Get a programmable thermostat

Manual thermostats serve their purpose, but they are nowhere near as helpful in maximizing the efficiency and prolonging the life of your furnace as a programmable one.

With a programmable thermostat, you should be able to automatically adjust the temperature in your home based on the schedule of people in the household. You can set it to get greater output from your furnace when you’re home and reduce the heating when no one’s there. This way, your furnace should perform more efficiently, consume less energy and experience less wear.

The best time to get these preparations to boost furnace performance done is during the fall. By taking all these steps ahead of time, you should be able to get the best possible performance from your furnace by time winter sets in, with a much-reduced possibility for costly and dangerous breakdowns in the middle of the cold season.

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Rebecca Anderson

Rebecca Anderson is the Content Marketing Strategist of FH Air Conditioning, an air conditioning and heating repair and service company that has been serving the Phoenix Valley since 1974. On her spare time, she enjoys reading books and mountaineering with her family and friends.

https://www.fountainhillsair.com/

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