Reacquainting with Your Furnace
With winter right around the corner, now is the time to get your home ready for cold weather.
One thing that often gets overlooked as the cold weather arrives, is furnace maintenance.
Sometimes a simple filter change is all that is required, but most heating and air conditioning companies will tell you that seasonal maintenance will keep your system running well for many years.
It pays to remember that preventative maintenance is a lot cheaper than an expensive repair. And safer, too.
If there is a loose gas fitting, or exposed wiring, it is better to find them by inspection rather than by an accident.
And besides, if your furnace is going to stop working, Murphy’s Law dictates that it will be on the coldest holiday night of the season. You know, the night when a service call will require a huge sack full of cash? And if a repairman is not available when your system goes down you may be spending a very cold couple of days. No fun there.
So it is a good idea to contact a reputable heating and air conditioning service company and have them do a safety check and filter change.
While you are at it, get them to perform a service, too. They know which pulleys need to be lubed, which widgets need to be tightened and which way the filters go in.
Your furnace will last many, many years if it is well-maintained.
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And in an ironic turn of events, my furnace stopped blowing warm air yesterday.
Now, since I’m in SoCal this is not a catastrophe, but I do have a wife and daughter at home who did not like waking up to a 60 degree house this morning. Brr…
So (from my toasty warm car on the drive in) I called my heating repair guy Miguel (at White Heating and Air Conditioning, 818-888-3301), and the soonest he could be out was tomorrow. Ha.
Luckily, my wife had our contractor at the house installing some lights today and he checked the furnace over and found a loose electrical connection which he repaired. Success!
But the important lesson for me here is that I need to take my own advice. I’ll have Miguel check the heating system and while I’m at it a roofer come out and check the roof.
Just in case.
Thanks Ken! The video you posted is one of my current favorites. I like your site, too.