Maintaining your furnace is a yearly must. Whether you’re skilled enough to do it yourself, or you need to call in a professional, there are certain tasks that should be performed to ensure quality performance, while prolonging the life of your equipment.
Here’s a rundown of some simple tasks you may be capable of tackling yourself. If not, this explanation will help you understand what needs to be done.
Maintenance Steps
- To service the equipment, turn off the power at the source.
- Make sure the filter is regularly changed. If you use less expensive fiberglass filters (minimum efficiency reporting value, or MERV, of 1-4), change them monthly. You should change higher quality pleated filters every three months or as needed, depending on the amount of dust and debris generated in your home.
- If you change your filter faithfully, you may not need to clean the blower assembly. However, if upon opening the panel you see dirt buildup, proceed as follows. Depending on the type of furnace you have, carefully vacuum pulleys and belts. Use a toothbrush to clean fan blades and a vacuum cleaner hose to clean up debris.
- Check belts for tension and signs of fraying, and replace any loose or worn belts.
- In the combustion chamber, scrape built-up carbon with a small wire brush, and then check for cracks.
- Some motors are sealed and don’t need lubrication, but those with oil ports or grease cups do.
- Check the exhaust flue for cracks so gases don’t escape. Patch small holes with foil tape, but replace cracked flues.
- Seal leaky ducts with metal tape or high-temperature silicone. Then, inspect exhaust vent pipes on furnace and water heaters for white powdery residue, which may indicate corrosion.
For more information about maintaining your furnace or to schedule a maintenance call with the experts at Arpi’s Industries Ltd. We’ve been providing excellent customer service to Calgary homeowners for more than 50 years.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Calgary, Alberta about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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