Spring isn't here just yet, which means your furnace is working hard to keep your home warm. Soon, though, temperatures will start to rise. But that doesn't mean your furnace gets the summer off. Your furnace works every day of the year. During winter, it warms and circulates the air. During summer, it still has the important task of circulating cooled air. Help keep it running at its peak with these helpful tips.
Regular Filter Changes
Have you ever tried drinking a milkshake through a straw? It's not so easy, is it? That's the same effect a clogged air filter can have on your home heating and air-conditioning system. And the harder your furnace has to work to pull the air through, the more it will cost you in energy. And lost comfort.
If your furnace uses disposable filters, a good rule of thumb is to change them every 1-3 months unless you have an annual filter. Homes in dusty or dry climates should change their filters more frequently to preserve furnace performance and air quality.
Regular system checkups by a professional.
If you don't perform regular maintenance on your car, eventually it will break down. Your furnace is the same way. A regular inspection by a trained heating and air conditioning professional will make sure your furnace runs at its best. This has several benefits:
- It costs less energy to heat and cool your home
- Small problems are detected early before they turn into big problems
- Your home stays more comfortable
Keep your intake pipe clear
Modern condensing furnaces operate with higher energy efficiency, generating more heat with less fuel. However, in order to do so, they require an external intake pipe for their air supply. If this pipe becomes clogged or blocked, that will not only affect your furnace's efficiency, it can also cause a dangerous buildup of carbon monoxide.
If you have a high-efficiency furnace, look for the intake and exhaust pipes on the exterior of your home. Make sure they're free of ice, snow, and other obstructions like bird nests or insects. If you cannot easily check the status of your pipe, contact a qualified heating and cooling professional to do it for you.
Use a programmable thermostat
Programmable thermostats help you keep a tighter hold on your energy savings by matching the heating and cooling output of your system to the demands of your home. In other words, when nobody is at home during the day, the system will run less often because there's nobody there to appreciate the comfort.
Reduce use even when you're home.
Programmable thermostats can be used to save energy and make your furnace work less hard even when the home is occupied. When outside air is very cold, your furnace has to work harder to keep inside air warm. By lowering your thermostat's set temperature at night, you can reduce the load on your furnace. And since everyone's asleep, the temperature difference won't be felt as much.
Smarter thermostats make sense
Many intelligent programmable thermostats can further reduce the load on your furnace by ramping the temperature up gradually over time, instead of forcing the furnace to do all of its work at once. Learn more about keeping your furnace healthy from your local Lennox Dealer.
