It’s officially fall and for many people, it’s their favorite season. From planning Halloween costumes to enjoying pumpkin-spiced treats, there’s a lot to look forward to.
However, there’s one crucial element you need in order to get the most enjoyment out of autumn, and that’s a well-functioning furnace in Grimes, IA. With our frigid winters and extended heating season, it’s essential to make sure your furnace is ready to tackle the cold weather headed its way.
So here are some of our top tips for making sure your furnace will sail through the heating season. From something as simple as changing the air filter to making sure you schedule furnace maintenance with our team, here are 4 essential tips.
1. Change the Air Filter
As a homeowner, changing your furnace’s air filter should be high on the list of home maintenance tasks. Ideally, this filter should be changed every 1-3 months during the heating season.
Your furnace’s air filter has an incredibly important job to do: it turns your furnace into a well-oiled machine. That’s because it keeps your furnace’s interior free of dust, dirt, and debris that can interfere with its interior components.
Factors such as your home’s square footage, if you have pets, the number of people in your household, if you’re in an urban vs rural area, and whether anyone in your household suffers from allergies determine how often you should change the filter.
2. Schedule Maintenance
The best way to ensure your furnace serves your family well during the winter and to hopefully avoid the need for heating repairs is to make sure you’ve scheduled annual furnace maintenance. This gives our service technicians an opportunity to clean, inspect, and adjust your furnace as needed to boost its efficiency and get ahead of any potential issues.
3. Get Repairs Done
After a maintenance visit, we might’ve made a recommendation for repairs. Repair needs should always be taken care of promptly. This prevents small problems from becoming larger and costlier repair problems that could result in a complete furnace breakdown if it’s allowed to continue unchecked. You don’t want to run the risk of being without your heating system on the coldest day of the year.
4. Clear the Area
As you transition from summer to fall, a lot of items are usually brought inside that were scattered around your yard. Things like bicycles, outdoor furniture, the lawn mower, gardening equipment, and even outdoor games slowly make their way inside as the weather turns cold. And sometimes, those items somehow accumulate around your furnace!
Just like the filter needs unobstructed airflow, so does the area around your furnace. If summer equipment is cluttering the area around your furnace, now’s the time to move it out of the way. There shouldn’t be any items within the 3-foot perimeter surrounding your furnace to optimize airflow and let your furnace perform at peak efficiency.
At Dalton Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, Electric and Fireplaces, Inc., your comfort is our promise! To set up an appointment in the Cedar Rapids area, give us a call at the number above, email customerservice@daltonphc.com or schedule an appointment online.