A recent study revealed that 90 percent of homes in the U.S. have some sort of HVAC system installed. However, after months of being unutilized in the summer, furnaces require some upkeep before you start using them again. Maintenance helps keep your furnace in excellent condition and guarantees your furnace won’t be a safety hazard. Here is a furnace safety guide to ensure that your furnace is working properly.
Maintain Sufficient Airflow
Your furnace requires sufficient air to operate. If your furnace doesn’t receive adequate airflow, it may deplete the oxygen in the room and this can be hazardous for you and your family. Moreover, any hindrances to airflow may also result in your furnace unevenly heating rooms in your home.
As a result, this will make your furnace push harder and will increase your energy bill. We suggest you remove obstacles and open the floor vents to maintain even heat throughout your home.
Vacuum-Clean Your Furnace
Dust and lint can cause fire hazards around your furnace. Ensure you vacuum inside and around your furnace at least once a month to avoid dust build-up. Don’t forget to clean inside the burner compartments to avoid lint builds up.
The burner flame should burn blue for natural gas furnaces. If your burner flame is orange or yellow, you might need to clean your furnace. Moreover, you can contact an expert Porter TX HVAC company to help you with questions on maintenance.
Keep Flammable Items Away
Any item left near the furnace is a fire hazard. Flammable materials such as gasoline, paint, and sawdust stored near the furnace pose a high fire risk. We recommend that you keep containers of cleaning solutions and ammonia airtight to avoid corroding your furnace’s heat exchanger.
Schedule Regular Inspections
Don’t miss out on regular inspections to ensure your furnace is in good shape. If you’re in Woodland, TX, and surrounding areas, we advise that you plan your furnace maintenance just before winter. What’s more, hire credible experts to inspect your furnace. Several disasters could occur if you decide to do the maintenance yourself.
Establish Furnace Rules with Family Members or Staff
Kids are known to play with or near household appliances and devices such as furnaces, especially during holiday gatherings. Moreover, they may not understand that furnaces get extremely hot when operational.
Thus, discuss with them the dangers of playing around furnaces to avoid hurting themselves in the future. You can begin by creating designated playing rooms inside the house. You can also lock furnace rooms to prevent them from playing or getting close to the furnace itself.
Make Sure Your Electric Furnace is Installed Correctly
Whether you live in Houston, New Caney, or Atascocita, you need to ensure that you hire a licensed professional HVAC company that will properly install your furnace. This is critical for the efficient, safe operation of your furnace. Poor heating services can also cause short circuits that cause electrical fires.
Replace Filters
If you neglect to regularly replace the filter it could cause your furnace to break down. A dusty filter may also cause operational issues in your furnace. To evade these complexities, replace your filters at least every two months.
However, if you have pets, smoke, or use your furnace often, you may be required to replace your filters more often. As a result, this will help your furnace perform efficiently and maintain good air quality inside your home.
Test the Smoke and CO2 Alarms
Furnace accidents can occur at any time. With this in mind, ensure you prepare your house for any incident. You can start by placing smoke alarms in the same room as the furnace and replacing batteries on fire alarms around the house at least once a year. You should also test the devices to ensure that they will warn you of a fire or carbon monoxide poisoning.
Test and Check the Thermostat
If your thermostat has issues, it will affect your furnace’s performance. To test if the thermostat is working, simply check the temperature level and increase it by about 5 degrees. Your furnace should automatically come on within a few moments.
If it does not come on, there is an issue with either the furnace or the thermostat. Replace the batteries and if that does not help, request a licensed heating service company to come inspect your furnace and thermostat.
Leave Furnace Repair to the Professionals
Furnaces are complicated devices. If your furnace seems to have broken down or is not operating as expected, never attempt the furnace repair on your own. Contact a licensed expert company to evade the risk of property damage or personal injury.
De-Clutter the Furnace Room
We advise that you provide clear access to your furnace at all times by keeping your furnace room clean and clutter-free. If you use your furnace room as a laundry area, avoid hanging wet items on furnace equipment.
Good Lighting
In an emergency situation, or even a regular inspection, low lighting or burnt light bulbs can make navigating the furnace room difficult and hazardous. Ensure you replace broken lighting fixtures and always have a flashlight easily available, especially during periods when the furnace is in use.
HVAC Porter TX: Schedule Your Tune-Up to Ensure Furnace Safety
Like any appliance, your furnace requires regular maintenance to operate at optimum. Hence, the most reliable way to guarantee your furnace safety is to schedule a tune-up with GUY’s Air Conditioning and Heating. During your furnace tune-up, we’ll assess and clean all of your furnace’s parts and fix any issues that we discover.
If you have any questions about your furnace safety, or if you’d like a furnace repaired in your business or home, contact our HVAC experts today.
