Despite the temperatures in most of Florida rarely dropping below 50 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, it’s still important that you make sure your furnace is in good shape. Professional furnace maintenance provides many benefits that make it well worth the cost. The best way to avoid problems and ensure you can always keep your house warm is to have an HVAC company maintain your furnace every year, ideally before the weather starts to cool down and you need to turn your furnace on.
Lower Utility Bills
Even in Southwest Florida, most homeowners still spend anywhere between $500 and $1,000 or more each winter in heating costs. If your furnace isn’t properly maintained so that it can heat effectively, your heating costs can potentially be much higher. Common issues like a dirty, clogged blower result in a furnace heating more slowly and can lead to a fairly significant increase in overall energy consumption. Long heating cycles can be an especially big issue with electric furnaces due to how high their energy demand is.
Ensuring Effective Performance
Professional maintenance helps prevent problems that can lead to a furnace suddenly not turning on. This includes things like electrical faults, thermostat issues, a dirty flame sensor, or a malfunctioning electric igniter.
Maintenance can also make a major difference in how well a furnace performs and whether it’s up to the task of keeping the house sufficiently warm. One issue you have to worry about with an electric furnace is one or more of the electric heating elements failing. If a furnace has a failed heating element, it won’t put out nearly as much heat as it should. On colder nights, a failed heating element can lead to a furnace running constantly and never making the house fully warm.
Preventing Safety Hazards
A neglected or poorly maintained furnace can be a major fire hazard. Most furnace fires are caused by wiring and electrical issues. A frayed wire, loose electrical connection, or corroded wiring can lead to a power surge or spike in voltage, resulting in wires overheating and potentially starting to burn. A frayed or loose wire can also send off sparks that lead to the furnace catching on fire.
Overheating is another serious concern with both gas and electric furnaces. If a furnace isn’t receiving enough airflow due to an issue like a clogged filter or a dirty/malfunctioning blower, it can quickly start to overheat. Furnaces have a safety switch that is specifically designed to cause an automatic shutdown if overheating occurs. Nonetheless, if the blower struggles to draw air into the furnace or its bearings are worn out, it will have to work harder. This can lead to the motor overheating and potentially catching on fire.
Another major concern with gas furnaces is the potential for carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas that can kill within minutes at higher concentrations. What happens is that it starves the body of oxygen, leading to the person eventually passing out and dying of asphyxiation.
Gas furnaces need to be properly vented so that the exhaust fumes flow outside. Improper venting or an obstructed exhaust flue can result in the fumes escaping and leaking out into the house. An even bigger worry is if the heat exchanger is cracked or rusted through, as this allows the fumes to leak into the ductwork and carbon monoxide to circulate into all the rooms.
Longer Life Expectancy
Gas furnaces in Florida typically last for 15 to 20 years, while the average life of electric furnaces is 20 to 30 years. Annual maintenance helps to protect and potentially extend the life of a furnace. If you neglect your furnace and don’t make sure to replace the air filter at least every three months, you could find yourself needing to pay for a replacement unit in as little as 10 years or potentially even sooner.
Maintenance lessens the strain on a furnace and decreases the amount of wear and tear it experiences. That’s because it ensures that the furnace heats effectively and has to run as little as possible. The more a furnace has to run and the harder it has to work, the faster it will wear out and eventually fail.
Avoiding Warranty Issues
Almost all manufacturers provide a limited parts warranty on their furnaces that covers defective components or issues that result from regular use. Most furnace warranties are for 5 or 10 years, and many manufacturers have a second, longer warranty that covers the heat exchanger. The warranty on your furnace can save you hundreds or thousands in repair costs, as the manufacturer will provide the replacement part at no cost. You’ll just have to pay the labor costs to have a manufacturer-approved HVAC company replace the part.
If you read the terms of any furnace warranty, you’ll see that they clearly state that the warranty will be void if you don’t follow the manufacturer’s maintenance instructions. They also state that the furnace must be installed, repaired, and maintained by a licensed HVAC company. When filing a warranty claim, the manufacturer will often require you to submit records proving that the furnace was properly maintained by a licensed professional. Without these records, the manufacturer can deny your claim and void the warranty, forcing you to pay the full repair cost out of pocket. This is especially a concern if the heat exchanger fails, as replacement heat exchangers can cost well over $1,000, not including the labor charges to install the replacement.
What Maintenance Do Furnaces Need?
Electric furnaces have fairly minimal maintenance requirements compared to gas furnaces. The most important tasks are cleaning the inside of the furnace and the blower, checking and testing the electric heating elements, inspecting the wiring, and tightening any loose electrical connections.
When maintaining a gas furnace, a technician will also check for electrical issues and clean the blower. However, maintaining a gas furnace is far more involved and requires performing numerous additional tasks, such as cleaning the flame sensor and the burners, inspecting and testing the other sensors and safety switches, inspecting the heat exchanger for cracks, and making sure the furnace is properly vented.
Whether you have a gas or electric furnace, the technician should also check that the thermostat is properly calibrated and working correctly. A malfunctioning or miscalibrated thermostat can cause issues with higher heating bills or lead to the furnace not running often enough or shutting off too soon. It can also lead to the furnace only working intermittently or not turning on at all.
Get Trusted Help
Reliance Air Services is the name to trust for furnace maintenance in Sarasota. Our experienced technicians can service all makes and models of gas and electric furnaces and will correctly handle all of the necessary maintenance tasks. Joining our Reliance Air Club will ensure that both your heating and cooling systems remain in top condition. Plan members receive an annual cooling inspection and tune-up in the spring, a heating inspection and tune-up in the fall, along with other great benefits. To schedule a furnace tune-up or learn more about the benefits of our maintenance plan, contact us today.
