Make the Call for Comfort

As October comes to an end, cold and frigid temperatures are nearly upon us. While winter may not be in full swing just yet, nights are growing colder and longer and pretty soon you’ll be firing up your furnace to keep yourself warm. But before we get to that point, have you had your furnace professionally maintained yet? If not, you could be in for a rather cold winter.

Annual maintenance is a critical part of owning and operating a furnace for a number of reasons. This short, simple, and yet invaluable procedure inspects a lot of your furnace’s critical components, tightens connections, cleans heating elements, and so much more. This provides you with a number of important benefits that could make the difference between a smooth, enjoyable winter and one where you’re caught in the cold dealing with a faulty or failing furnace.

Here are just a few of the reasons why you should schedule a furnace maintenance before firing up your furnace for the first time this winter.

Better Reliability

An annual maintenance service includes a thorough inspection of your furnace, where your technician will inform you of any developing issues with your heater. This allows them to conduct those repairs, or make an appointment with you to get them fixed quickly. In addition, a furnace that’s well-maintained is far less likely to break down—with lubricated motors, tightened belts, and cleaned coils and heating elements, the odds of an issue arising that’s serious enough to take your furnace offline when you need it the most are much smaller.

Better Energy Efficiency

A furnace that’s well-maintained means there’s less resistance holding it back from doing its job. For example, a maintained furnace is one where the motor bearings have all been properly lubricated, meaning they turn with as little resistance as possible. That means your system will use less energy to make that motor turn. Likewise, a maintained furnace is one where the heating coils have been properly cleaned, which means there’s no thin layer of dust acting as insulation that prevents heat from entering your home. When all of these little areas that could drain extra energy are maintained, you get a system that uses far less energy, helping reduce your carbon footprint.

Better Longevity

A well-maintained furnace is one that will last far longer than one which doesn’t receive the annual care it needs. Over time, components will start to wear down, connections will loosen, bearings will stiffen up, and other issues will slowly start to work their way in. While they may not lead to a major breakdown right away, the truth of the matter is it could lead to more and more frequent breakdowns later in your system’s life, and at a far younger age than a furnace which does receive annual maintenance. If you want to maximize the lifespan of your furnace, having it professionally maintained every year before the start of the cold season is the best way to do so.

Warranty Adherence

Have you recently installed a brand new furnace? Odds are it’s probably still under warranty. However, if you want it to stay under warranty for the full duration of the policy, odds are you’ll probably need to have it maintained once per year. Most warranties on new systems only remain applicable if a system has been properly maintained by a professional. Have your furnace maintained and be sure to keep a copy of the service record—your manufacturer will probably ask for those records in the event you need to file a warranty repair claim.

Substantial Savings

All of these factors combined add up to one common goal: saving you money. Between the savings on your energy bills, lack of major repair costs (including having repairs conducted for free while your system is under warranty), and the longer lasting value of your furnace, you could save hundreds of dollars on your energy bills each year. In fact, the majority of maintenance services pay for themselves over the course of the season.