In the winter, your furnace is essential to keeping your family warm, safe and comfortable. You don't want to be stuck with a furnace that has trouble heating when cold weather blows in.

Before you turn on the heat, follow these tips to care for your furnace.

Change Your Filters Regularly

If your furnace uses disposable filters, aim to change them every 1-3 months unless you have an annual filter. If you live in a dusty or dry climate, try to change your filters more often to preserve furnace performance and air quality.

Ensure Your Intake Pipe is Clear

Modern condensing furnaces are more energy efficient, generating more heat with less fuel. To do this, they require an external intake pipe for their air supply. If this pipe becomes clogged or blocked, this impacts not only your furnace's efficiency, but 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, bird nests or insects. If you cannot easily check your pipe's status, your local Lennox^® dealer can do it for you.

Use a Lennox Smart Thermostat

With a Lennox S40 Smart Thermostat, you can control your energy savings by matching your system's heating and cooling output to your home's demands. Schedule IQ Technology, Smart Away™ geo-fencing capabilities and one-touch Away Mode ensure the Lennox S40 Smart Thermostat and connected equipment run as efficiently as possible by maintaining comfort when the home is occupied and saving energy when it is not.

Keep Up with Preventive Maintenance

While a licensed HVAC technician should perform major maintenance, you can conduct some preventive maintenance on your own. Before you investigate your system, be sure to shut off power to the unit and wait for the blower to stop. You can then run a sound check by turning your unit on and listening for any unusual banging or rattling sounds. It's also a good idea to look for signs of moisture on windows or rust build-up on the vent pipe. This can indicate improper operation.

When in doubt, contact a Lennox Dealer

To prepare your furnace for winter and keep it running efficiently all season long, it's important to take the right steps but when in doubt, the best place to start is by finding your local Lennox® dealer. Our trusted and trained H.V.A.C. professionals can ensure your furnace is running at its best and help you explore current promotions that allow you to stack rebates and maximize savings from Lennox if an upgrade or replacement is necessary.