As the weather begins to change and we bid farewell to summer, its time to start thinking about one of the most important pieces of equipment in your home: the furnace. Most homeowners forget about the furnace until it is too late, and, if you had any problems with yours last winter, then now is definitely the time to take action.
Waiting to fire up your furnace until you actually need it could cause problems. It happens every year, the first cold snap hits and the phones at the heating and air conditioning companies light up and many people find themselves going a few days without heat as they compete with every other homeowner with furnace issues for an appointment. Don’t be left out in the cold, act now.
Heating systems are usually reliable and require very little repair if they are given regular maintenance. But without this regular maintenance a furnace could lose efficiency or cease to function all together.
To give your furnace and heating system a test run, set the thermostat at least five degrees warmer than the current temperature in the room. In a minute or two your heater should come on and you should be able to feel the heat blowing into the room. If the system does not come on you can check a few things before calling in a pro.
The first place to look is the thermostat. It may sound simple, but check to see that it is turned on. All modern thermostats have an on off switch, but they may not be clearly labeled with an “on” position. The “on” position is usually labeled “heat” or “cool.” Obviously you want to make sure the switch is in the “heat” position. If you have a programmable thermostat, refer to your user manual on how to bypass the current setting. If the heater still does not come on you’ll want to check to see if your thermostat has a replaceable battery and check it. There is nothing worse than paying one hundred and fifty bucks or more for a service technician come out to the house just to change a battery.
