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Furnace Maintenance Tips
With the change of the season one of the primary conditions that will change in your home will be the change over from air conditioning to heating in the fall and heating to cooling in the spring. One of the things that homeowners should be doing all year long is exchanging their furnace filters or cleaning them depending on the type of filter or filter system that may exist.
It is highly recommended that a professional conduct inspections and adjustments on your furnace. However, a homeowner should be changing air filters on a regular basis. A dirty filter will cause excessive strain on your furnace, increase heating costs and reduce the life of your equipment. Make sure that your filter compartment has a cover over the filter itself. This will increase the effectiveness of the air exchange and allow for the filter to do its job fully.
Please note that while doing maintenance on your furnace always shut off the maintenance switch to the furnace while servicing. This switch is normally found on the side of the furnace.
For Inexpensive Fiberglass Filters: These should be changed out once a month but can be changed every other month. This will be dependent on the amount of activity of the furnace unit. In extreme hot or cold conditions change your filter more often. Coming out the air conditioning season means that the furnace blower has been running at a high speed normally causing the filter to collect additional dirt.
For Pleated Filters: Pleated filters can last up to three months. If you change out your fiberglass filter for a pleated filter there can be a reduction in the total amount of air flow at the registers. So, if you have a bedroom located at a farther distance from the furnace and the room normally doesn’t cool or heat as well as the balance of the home, a pleated filter may even reduce the delivery of conditioned air to that room even more. Check your furnace manufacturer’s instructions and recommendations for filter type.
For Permanent Filters: Make sure that permanent filters are washed in cool lightly soapy water and rinsed clean no less than monthly. These filters need as much air flow as possible to work properly. Reduction in air flow will cause mechanical issues for the furnace as stated above.
For Electronic Air Cleaners: Electronic air cleaners should be washed in cool water and wiped down before re-installation on a monthly basis. Make sure that the air cleaners are fully seated back into their compartments prior to restarting the equipment and turning on the furnace.
Also, don’t forget that the blower compartment panel / doors need to be back in place in order for the furnace to run. There is an internal switch called a (dead man switch) that does not allow for the furnace to run without the door to the blower compartment in place.
With the change of the season one of the primary conditions that will change in your home will be the change over from air conditioning to heating in the fall and heating to cooling in the spring. One of the things that homeowners should be doing all year long is exchanging their furnace filters or cleaning them depending on the type of filter or filter system that may exist.
It is highly recommended that a professional conduct inspections and adjustments on your furnace. However, a homeowner should be changing air filters on a regular basis. A dirty filter will cause excessive strain on your furnace, increase heating costs and reduce the life of your equipment. Make sure that your filter compartment has a cover over the filter itself. This will increase the effectiveness of the air exchange and allow for the filter to do its job fully.
Please note that while doing maintenance on your furnace always shut off the maintenance switch to the furnace while servicing. This switch is normally found on the side of the furnace.
For Inexpensive Fiberglass Filters: These should be changed out once a month but can be changed every other month. This will be dependent on the amount of activity of the furnace unit. In extreme hot or cold conditions change your filter more often. Coming out the air conditioning season means that the furnace blower has been running at a high speed normally causing the filter to collect additional dirt.
For Pleated Filters: Pleated filters can last up to three months. If you change out your fiberglass filter for a pleated filter there can be a reduction in the total amount of air flow at the registers. So, if you have a bedroom located at a farther distance from the furnace and the room normally doesn’t cool or heat as well as the balance of the home, a pleated filter may even reduce the delivery of conditioned air to that room even more. Check your furnace manufacturer’s instructions and recommendations for filter type.
For Permanent Filters: Make sure that permanent filters are washed in cool lightly soapy water and rinsed clean no less than monthly. These filters need as much air flow as possible to work properly. Reduction in air flow will cause mechanical issues for the furnace as stated above.
For Electronic Air Cleaners: Electronic air cleaners should be washed in cool water and wiped down before re-installation on a monthly basis. Make sure that the air cleaners are fully seated back into their compartments prior to restarting the equipment and turning on the furnace.
Also, don’t forget that the blower compartment panel / doors need to be back in place in order for the furnace to run. There is an internal switch called a (dead man switch) that does not allow for the furnace to run without the door to the blower compartment in place.
