Now that we’ve settled into the winter, the heater in your home will work on a regular basis to provide comfort. Chances are high that the heating system you have installed is a gas furnace—the most popular type of home heating system in the country. A gas furnace is reliable and uses an inexpensive fuel to run.
However, to get the best and safest performance from your gas furnace, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Annual maintenance is a necessity
A regular inspection and tune-up for your heater, conducted by a licensed HVAC professional, isn’t an extra luxury. It’s necessary to ensure the heater operates with little chance of a malfunction or the creation of safety hazards. The inspection part of maintenance looks over all the places where the furnace might become unsafe and lets you know what repairs to have done before problems can start. We advise people to have maintenance done each fall, but if you haven’t scheduled it yet, it isn’t too late.
The area around a furnace isn’t for storage
Furnaces are placed in out-of-the-way locations of a house, such as in the basement, garage, or in a closet. These are also places where people store items. Please don’t store items close to the furnace, however, since this may create a fire hazard. Give the furnace at least a foot of clearance, and keep any highly flammable liquids and materials as far away as possible.
You may want to replace a furnace with a standing pilot light
The standing pilot light is no longer the way modern furnaces ignite the gas burners. Instead, they use some type of electronic ignition system. This is both safer and more energy efficient. If the furnace in your home still uses a standing pilot light (and you find yourself often relighting it), then the furnace is likely too old to be keeping around. We recommend scheduling an appointment with us to see about your replacement options.
Test CO Detectors and change their batteries regularly
If you use natural gas in your home—for any appliance—you must have carbon monoxide detectors in different rooms to keep you and your family safe. Although the chance of CO leaks are low if you keep up with furnace maintenance, you still want a warning should they happen. We recommend testing your CO detectors every six months, and right now is a great time to do it if you haven’t yet. Just press the “test” button on each unit to hear if it makes a long beep.
The batteries need to be changed every few years: the unit will start making a short beeping sound to alert you when it’s time. And yes, this also applies to hardwired detectors, since they have a backup battery in case of a power loss.
To schedule any necessary service for your gas furnace in Bossier City, LA, look to the Doctor of Home Comfort. If you’ve got an emergency with your furnace, you can reach us any time of the day or night for fast and effective repairs.
