Preparing Your Furnace for Winter Weather

Winter weather only feels tolerable when you’ve got a properly prepared furnace. Otherwise, you’ll struggle to stay warm even while you’re inside. By keeping it maintained, your furnace should heat up your home better than ever. Here are a few ways you can prepare yours for the coldest months of the year.

Lubricate the Blowers

Blowers are what push air throughout your home. Even though your furnace might warm up the air, that doesn’t mean your home will get warmed up. Poorly maintained blowers won’t supply enough force to transfer the heat. So, you should always make sure they’ve been lubricated. If you notice they’ve been getting stuck, you might even want to replace them. That way, you’ll actually feel the heat produced by your furnace. Plus, lubricating them regularly should make them last longer, too.

Clean Off the Heat Exchangers

Whenever your furnace is on, its heat exchangers do the heavy lifting. These transfer heat from burnt fuel into the air. Without them, you’d never notice anything from your furnace. From time to time, inspect them to make sure they’re clean. If they’ve been covered in dust, clean them off. The cleaner they are, the more efficient they’ll be.

Also, keep an eye out for any cracks. If they’ve been cracked, they’d pose a safety hazard. Cracked heat exchangers would let carbon monoxide enter your home’s ventilation system.

Hire a Professional for Serious Repairs

Living without a working furnace isn’t the best idea during the winter. So, if yours doesn’t seem to be working, hire a professional. Simply searching for a professional in your area. For example, you might search for furnace repair in St. Albert if you live in Canada should give you what you need.

A professional can easily determine what’s been causing the problem. Then, they’ll take care of it for you. After they’ve finished, your furnace should work better than ever. In fact, it might even be a little more efficient, saving you a little money.

Update to a Modulating-Stage Furnace

If it’s been a couple of years since you’ve updated the furnace, look into a modulating system. These work a little differently from older dual-stage systems. Instead of discrete modes, they’re built to work like a continuously variable transmission. Not only does that make them more efficient, but they’ll also make your home feel more comfortable.

Short cycling won’t be a problem anymore, either. Depending on how much heat you need, they’ll work as hard as necessary. As a result, they’ll slow down as your home gets closer to the desired temperature. Even better, these tend to eliminate cold spots in your home, entirely.

Seal Leaks in the Ventilation

Leaky vents sap your furnace’s efficiency. You might not even realize there have been leaks in your vents, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there. You could try to find them yourself, or you could also hire someone to find them for you. Either way, once you’ve found them, seal them shut. Properly sealed vents ensure your furnace’s heat actually distributes throughout the home.

If you’ve had issues with cold spots, despite a working furnace, it’s probably because of leaks. While you’re sealing them, you might even want to add a little insulation. Insulating your vents will improve your home’s efficiency, lowering your heating costs.

Switch to a Smart Thermostat

Using a smart thermostat could help lower your heating costs by up to 15%. By automating temperature settings, they’ll prevent the furnace from working when it’s unnecessary.

Some of them can even learn your schedules without any input. Then, when you’re away from the home, they’ll turn off the furnace. No matter what, smart thermostats tend to provide a better user experience, though.

Replace Your Air Filters

Regularly replacing your air filters could make a bigger difference than you realize. When you’ve got dirty filters, they impede airflow, limiting your furnace’s performance. Plus, without a good filter, you’ll suffer from more allergies as well. Most of the time, you should replace them at least once every 3 months. However, some filters only last 30 days.

Keeping Your Furnace in Great Shape

Taking care of your furnace isn’t all that hard. If you’d rather avoid doing it yourself, have someone else take care of it. Hiring a professional to maintain it could even prolong its lifespan. Plus, you’ll be a lot comfier when it’s snowing.