As the weather gets chillier, you need to make sure your heating system is ready to handle the challenge of the coming winter. You don’t want to find that when you really need it to work, your heating system is struggling or just won’t come on.
There are many benefits to having your heating system maintained each year, ideally in the fall when it’s about to start working very hard. One of the best things about heating maintenance is that it dramatically reduces the risk that you’ll need heating repairs during the coming season. Here’s how.
Avoiding Heating Repairs
During heating maintenance, your technician will go through a long checklist of steps to make sure every component is in tip-top shape.
- Cleaning: All the dust and grime from the past year will be carefully cleaned away. This helps improve airflow, without which your system will struggle. Lack of airflow can even make the blower motor overheat and burn out! Removing the grime will also cut down on friction between moving parts.
- Lubrication: Moving parts need to slide easily against one another. Each year, during maintenance, your technician will replenish the lubricant that makes this possible. With less friction, there will be less wear and tear, less strain on the system overall, and less risk of parts overheating.
- Inspection: With a close eye on every component, your technician will be able to spot small concerns and rectify them before they snowball into major issues. For example, a belt starting to fray or slide out of place can be repositioned or replaced before it flies loose, stopping the heater from working and possibly damaging other components in the process.
- Testing: The effectiveness of the ignition system, the amount of gas flow, the electrical connections and amp draw, and whether the thermostat is accurately calibrated—all these things will be tested. This ensures your safety, because both gas and electric heating systems do have safety risks if improperly maintained, and it also prevents problems that could otherwise require repair down the line.
Other Benefits of Heating Maintenance
While reducing wear and tear and catching little problems early will reduce the likelihood of your heating system needing heating repair in Katy, TX—by as much as 85%!—this is not the only reason to get heating maintenance. You’ll reap more benefits as well.
- Efficiency: While a year’s hard work will reduce heating efficiency by about 5%, professional maintenance will reverse those effects, bringing your efficiency back to the way it used to be.
- Effectiveness: Issues like low airflow, a failed heating element, an off-kilter fan, and many more can make it so your home never gets cozy enough, or has some hot rooms and some cold ones. Catching these issues during maintenance will help you be comfortable throughout your home all winter long.
- System Life: If you allow the wear and tear to add up and if the dirty and unlubricated parts are straining the system, it won’t keep running for nearly as long. While a gas furnace may last 15 years and an electric one 20, you can cut those estimates by as much as half if you never get maintenance. You don’t want to buy a new heating system twice as often! You’d much rather have maintenance done.
- Warranty Coverage: If your heating system is under warranty, keep it that way. Warranty agreements generally require that annual maintenance be done by a licensed professional. Get maintenance done so you don’t miss out on the potential coverage like the manufacturer paying for repairs if a part fails early.
Are you ready to schedule that maintenance now? We’re ready to help.
Reach out to Cool Care Heating and Air Conditioning, The Best Care for Your Air.