Annual Furnace Tune-Up and Maintenance

Annual Furnace Tune-Up and Maintenance

By Wendell Bedell, Building Services Institute

Tune-up your furnace and watch your heating bills go down. We've all felt the squeeze on our budget due to rising home heating bills. In 2011, the average cost of heating a home for an American family was about $990.

It's a fact! Your best defense against rising heating costs is having your furnace or heat pump tuned-up by a certified technician to ensure it is working efficiently.

Heating System Basics

There are three basic parts of a fuel-burning heating system; furnace, blower and thermostat which operate together.

• The thermostat measures the temperature in your home and below its temperature set-point signals the furnace to turn.
• The combustion in the furnace creates heat, while the blower moves air over the heat exchanger, raising its temperature and distributing it throughout the house by the heating ducts.
• When your desired temperature is reached the thermostat signals the furnace to shut down.

If you have a heat pump, then it heats using the same idea as when it cools, except instead of heat being pulled out of your home, it is being pulled into your home.

Why Should you Tune-up your Heating System?

Heating systems are mechanical systems that need to be maintained. A thorough cleaning of all heat transfer surfaces and a tune-up to restore the operations back to design specifications will save you up to 50%.

One of our Protect annual tune-ups and maintenance processes saves you some of that money.

Making Your System Safe

Combustion within your furnace creates Carbon Monoxide or CO. CO is a colorless and odorless gas that can be deadly. Normally the CO produced by the furnace's combustion chamber is exhausted up and out the chimney or flue. However, a furnace that is out of adjustment or has a cracked heat exchanger due to age, fatigue, or a manufacturing defect can allow CO to enter your home. It is recommended that homeowners protect themselves from CO poisoning by installing and locating a Carbon Monoxide detector near the home's sleeping areas. If the CO detector should ever go off, IMMEDIATELY evacuate your home and have your furnace professionally inspected and maintained.

A tune-up will help keep your furnace running efficiently and safely, while providing a good return on your money. The pros at Munn's Sales & Service, Inc. are people who have the skills and equipment to ensure that any parts that might degrade over time are still functioning properly in your furnace, as well as to make sure it is operating safely for you and your family.

Check out our Protect maintenance agreement special offers here.

Click here to schedule a tune-up with our Protect service agreement.