As you may or may not know, most furnace manufacturers recommend that you get your furnace checked for problems at least once a year. In fact, most warranties require annual maintenance be conducted on the furnace in order for it to remain covered. This is all well and good, but what is the true purpose of scheduled maintenance visits? After all, why not wait until the furnace begins to act strange before calling a professional? Below are some of the ways that regular maintenance actually prevents the need for repairs and saves you money.
Preventing Progressive Decline
Major problems with your furnace rarely spring up out of nowhere. The vast majority of issues that cause your furnace to break down begin as small issues. Maybe you have a bit of carbon buildup on your burner, or a partially blocked gas line. Maybe your exhaust flue isn’t venting as well as it could be. No big deal, right? Actually, any one of these issues could lead to a major problem if left alone long enough. That last one, in particular, could prove dangerous to your health by trapping poisonous combustion gases in your home. These are known as progressive problems, because if left alone they will keep getting worse.
Some issues, like a leaky or partially blocked gas line, may not cause your furnace to stop working right away. They will, however, cause a loss in efficiency for which your furnace will have to work harder to compensate. This can cause an increase in your heating bills, as your furnace runs longer to try and reach the thermostat temperature without enough fuel to do so effectively.
If you schedule regular maintenance, you can catch all of these problems before they get bad enough to force costly repairs or replacements. You’ll also increase the overall efficiency of your system by having it maintained, which saves you money on heating bills. In the end, the benefits of regular furnace maintenance far outweigh the cost.
If you haven’t scheduled your annual heating maintenance yet, call Next Generation Air & Heat Inc. We conduct furnace repair and maintenance throughout the Merritt Island area.
