HVAC service providers have long offered HVAC maintenance to their clients, but it has become a more central focus for many homeowners. However, many still have questions about why they should invest in maintenance for their furnace. Consider the perils you may face if you decide to neglect maintaining your home’s gas furnace.
Climbing Energy Bills
One of the primary goals of furnace maintenance is to maintain your system’s operational efficiency. Over time, this efficiency can drop as the system circulates less air and certain components become dirty and worn. These problems can cause extended heating cycles or short cycling. In both cases, you may notice a drastic increase in your energy bills.
Mounting Furnace Repairs
As your system runs, several factors will add to the wear your system experiences. First, the components can get dirty over time, including the heat exchanger and the circulating fan. As this happens, it reduces the amount of air moving through your system, straining it.
Further, the system’s vibration can loosen mounting hardware and electrical connections. Loose mounting hardware can strain and cause wear to the circulating fan. Loose electrical connections increase electrical resistance, which can make the system draw more power and cause excessive heat at the connection. Restricted airflow and loose mounting hardware and electrical connections strain the system and wear the components prematurely.
Component testing is also part of a maintenance visit to find those that have worn and aren’t working optimally any longer. These minor problems destroy efficiency and add wear to the entire system. A maintenance technician can identify those components early so that they can be replaced before causing substantial additional wear.
Poor Indoor Air Quality
Your HVAC system is one of the keys to maintaining good air quality in your home. As the system runs, it draws air through the filter, removing contaminants before they can enter the system and producing better air quality from the supply vents.
Neglecting maintenance creates two primary ways your indoor air quality will suffer. The first is that the reduced airflow through the system means less air flowing through the filter. When less air moves through the filter, it catches fewer contaminants. Second, neglected maintenance also allows contaminants to collect in the system, usually at the heat exchanger and the circulating fan. The air that moves through the system can pick up some of the particles and circulate them back throughout your house.
Increased Safety Risks
While gas furnaces are usually safe, there are inherent risks with an appliance that burns fuel in your home. Improper installation or neglected maintenance significantly increases the risks associated with your furnace.
The first risk is that natural gas produces carbon monoxide as it burns, which can be fatal with exposure if it’s a concentrated amount. This can leak into your home if there are cracks in the heat exchanger or the exhaust flue.
Second, there’s the obvious risk of the natural gas itself. There’s always the risk of gas leaking if something in your system isn’t working properly. However, there’s also the risk of improper ignition, which can cause delayed ignition. If the delay is bad enough, it can cause significant damage to your furnace and even be the cause of residential fires.
Risk of Invalidated Warranties
Nearly all new furnaces come with a factory warranty to protect against premature component failures. These warranties can range from 5 to 15 years, depending on the manufacturer and then meeting certain terms such as registering your system.
Manufacturers recognize the significant strain and wear that neglect adds to a system. This is why one of the terms commonly listed in the warranty information is the need for routine maintenance. Further, there’s the term that a qualified professional must perform all service on the unit. This means that you shouldn’t attempt to do furnace maintenance on your own; instead, you should partner with a trusted HVAC service company for annual maintenance visits.
Reduced Home Comfort
One of the common complaints about residential furnaces is inconsistent heating throughout the home. This can be caused by a wide range of factors, including the duct system’s design, dirt in the ducts and mechanical issues. However, neglected maintenance can also reduce your home’s comfort.
Your furnace depends on drawing the right amount of air through the return vents and pushing out enough through the supply vents. This process creates a difference in air pressure that circulates heated air. If the system isn’t moving enough air through the system, the heated air won’t circulate throughout the house effectively. The result is that some areas around your home will remain cold despite the furnace running.
Higher Risk of Emergency Repairs
Emergency repairs are extremely costly because of the premium price you’ll pay for the technician’s time. Additionally, emergency furnace repairs usually need to happen when the temperatures get low and you depend on your furnace most.
The reason this happens is because of small problems or strain the system is already experiencing. Adding the strain from extreme winter temperatures pushes the system to the breaking point. The testing a technician does during maintenance seeks to find the areas that are already exhibiting strain. You then have the opportunity to resolve those problems before the extreme temperatures hit and you’re left with an emergency repair. Further, the tune-up work they perform helps reduce the operational strain, ensuring components last longer to begin with.
Louder Furnace Operation
When a furnace is running well, it should produce almost no noise beyond a low whoosh when it ignites and the low whir of the circulating fan. However, neglected maintenance may cause the system to start producing additional sounds.
One sound you may notice is banging. This can be caused by the ducts expanding and contracting. However, banging can also indicate delayed ignition because of problems with the burner or igniter.
The circulating fan can become loud as well, emitting loud screeching or grinding sounds. These commonly point to an issue with the fan motor’s ball bearings. Additionally, the fan can become off balance which can make the fan run louder. These same sounds can also come from an inducer fan if the unit is equipped with one.
Shortened Furnace Life
Aside from age, there are two ways of determining when it’s time to replace your furnace and both have to do with repair costs. First, if any single repair exceeds 50% of the cost of a new system, it may be time to replace it. Second, multiply the total repair costs over the last two years by the age of the system, and replace the system when this exceeds the cost of a replacement. With these equations, you can see how easily excess repairs can shorten the expected lifespan of your system.
Since launching Western Pacific Heating, Cooling & Airflow in 2020, our mission has been to provide trusted heating and cooling services to residents and businesses around Vancouver. Our licensed technicians provide AC and heating maintenance, repair and installation together with heat pump floor heating, water heater services and air purification solutions. Call to schedule a furnace maintenance visit with one of our expert technicians today.
