Even before the first sign of winter comes, you need to be prepared. One important aspect in your home management issue is the care and maintenance of your heating system. We don’t want to freeze in the cold, and the best way to ensure this is to have thorough maintenance job done on your house’s heater. Some of these tasks can be easily done without calling the serviceman.
The Advantages of Heating System Checked before Winter
In the face of economic crisis, it pays to be prudent in managing our household resources and money. By ensuring fall maintenance heating system checks, you do not only ensure safety of your property but also saves money from more repairs and future hazards. A properly maintained heating system can also provide the needed comfort of your family during the cold months. It keeps you protected from the elements and risks to children’s or elder people’s health. A functioning heater can keep the chills away.
Proper maintenance whether done by a professional technician or by anyone in the family should be top priority this autumn. The advantages of being early are too many compared to the inconvenience it may cause on your routine. Some people wait until it is too late. The full extent of the damage on your heating system should be known as early as fall. Do not wait for it to break down at winter time before you do some maintenance work.
The Full Checklist
With a “maintenance can reduce furnace repairs” attitude high in your agenda, prepare a checklist of other household management issues you need to tackle before winter comes. Here are some of them:
• Check your doors and windows for cracks or leaks to ensure your heater will not have to work harder to keep warm air inside your house;
• Check the air filters for accumulated dusts, holes, and dirt in general. Have them cleaned thoroughly. Too much dirt on the air filter can cause your heater to break down. Make it a habit to clean this every two weeks. You will be surprised how easily dust can accumulate on the air vents.
• Check the thermostat for consistency and accuracy. Thermostats tend to wear out easily, lose accuracy particularly the older analog thermostat. Test as well the heating or cooling system. Ensure that the thermostat reflects the actual temperature in your home. This can be done by placing a standard thermometer next to your thermostat. Record the different temperature readings every 15 minutes. By this you will know if you need to replace it with a newer, more accurate digital model.
• Older heating system needs lubrication. The fan blades must also be cleaned. Check the belt of the furnace blower if it is misaligned.
If you have the knowledge to work on these machines, you can save time and money. But if this is too much work for you, you can always call the serviceman to do the rounds.