-Furnace Maintenance
Maintaining your furnace is like maintaining your vehicle. A well maintained furnace will operate better and last longer than one that is neglected. Fortunately, maintaining your furnace is fairly easy. You can do it yourself or you can have a furnace technician come to your home every year and do it for you.
If you would like to save a few dollars while ensuring that your furnace runs better and lasts longer, do the following things every year before the weather gets so cold you have to use your furnace.
1. Replace all your filters.
In addition to not being as effective at filtering the air you breathe, dirty filters cause several problems for the furnace. They make the blower work harder getting enough air into the heat-exchange chamber so that you have enough warm air in the house. This can cause the blower motor to overheat and shut down.
2. Clean the area around the furnace and inside the filter box.
While you are replacing the air filters, vacuum around the furnace unit. Most furnaces are stuck in an out-of-the-way spot and get minimal cleaning during the year. Take the opportunity to clean up the area around the furnace when you change the filters.
3. Check your fan belts.
Fan belts that are too loose or too tight can cause problems with the blower and the fan motor. The tension in the belts should be set so there is about 1″ of deflection at the center of the span. Belts that are too tight or too loose will become worn (the inside surface gets shinny and brittle). Replace any worn or frayed fan belts right away.
4. Lubricate the blower (fan) motor shaft.
Most electrical motor shafts have lubrication ports at one or both ends of the shaft that runs through the motor. Use a good quality lightweight motor oil to fill these lubrication ports.
Warning: Do not spray lubricating oil around the inside of the fan. All that does is gum things up and get the odor of the lubricating oil spread all through the house.
5. Check to be sure the blower (fan) cage spins easily.
Check your blower (fan) cage by spinning it. As long as it spins easily, everything is fine. If it seems to rub or bind while it spins, you could have something stuck in the fan or you could have a worn out fan. If you can’t find anything stuck in the fan, get a furnace technician to check this out - you may have to replace the fan.
6. Turn on the pilot light.
Most gas furnaces require a pilot light to function properly (some of the more modern furnaces have electronic flame starters). Make sure your pilot light is lit. (Go to: ‘How to Light your Gas Pilot Light’ on this web-site to learn more.)
7. Check your thermostat.
After you have done the mechanical maintenance on the furnace and made sure the pilot light is lit and working, check the thermostat to make sure that it is working. Set your thermostat control to ‘Heat’ and the furnace temperature control to higher than your current room temperature. Make sure the burner lights and the fan starts blowing. As soon as you have done this you can turn the furnace thermostat control back to a cooler setting and the status control back to either cool or neutral.
