Basic Furnace Maintenance Guide Every Homeowner Should Know

When you think about executing furnace maintenance in Philadelphia or anywhere else, several items can go into your checklist, as suggested by the owner’s manual or general advice. Each of them is imperative to keep your furnace running smoothly and efficiently. Still, there can be too many of them, making it seem like a huge hassle.

We have organized the most crucial furnace maintenance tasks in three main areas to simplify them, making them easier to remember and harder to bypass!

Inspection

You can’t start furnace maintenance or any preventive maintenance without an inspection. The items we share are things that most homeowners can do and in most manuals are recommended:

• Heat exchanger: When the heat exchanger is visible from the top cover panel, look out for cracks and deformities. If you find any, call an HVAC technician asap.
• Flue System: Furnace vents can connect to chimneys. Therefore make sure to check if the attachment is correct or any signs of corrosion. If there is, replace it. Also, keep in mind if rusted.
• Pipes: Exhaust and intake pipes require an inspection, especially during winter. You’ll have to make sure snow isn’t blocking the lines.
• Burner: If you check your burner assembly (sometimes located behind a cover) for any scorch marks or burnt wires.
• Other: Cabinet, external wiring, blower assembly, airflow, and any other items in your furnace’s manual.

Pro Tips: 

• It is best to perform preventive furnace maintenance, including inspection and cleaning, before turning it on.
• For gas furnace maintenance, get an HVAC technician to check the gas pressure and gas supply lines.

Cleaning

After a proper inspection, many items can lead to replacement, repair, and our next point: cleaning. A significant part of furnace maintenance consists of cleaning components that often get dirty. They can cause malfunctioning of your furnace or poor air quality, which you can read more about here.

Starting with your top cover panel, you can vacuum and clean each of the components, such as heat exchanger if accessible, burner assembly, and so on. Make sure you turn the power and gas valve off in the case of gas furnace maintenance.

Then you can move on to cleaning other components, such as the burner box, which can get dirty due to all the debris the intake pipes absorb. Vents and return grills should also be cleaned and are best to keep open.

If you have more expertise in home projects, you can go ahead and clean the dust blades from the blower. Since you’ll have to disconnect the power wires, make sure to take a picture to put everything back together. Clean and vacuum the blower assembly.

Pro Tip:

Use cut-resistant gloves for cleaning the blower assembly.

Lastly, we advise you to clean the flame sensor, a metal rod with one white wire going to it in the top cover panel. You can tell it apart from the igniter because it is connected by two wires instead of one. After unscrewing and taking it out, clean it tightly with scrub pads.

Experts should only do additional elements that require cleaning, but it is ducts and the evaporator coil.

Replacement

The other big area of furnace maintenance is replacing specific components. We list the main ones which can also be done by you below:

1. Filter: This is the most common item in furnace maintenance in Philadelphia and anywhere else. It is effortless to do! Varying with the use you give to your furnace, which changes by season, you’ll want to replace the filter every three months in the fall and 1 to 2 months in the summer.

Pro Tips: 

• Measure the exact height, width, and thickness of your filters to find replacements.
• The direction you place your filter is essential. Draw an arrow to know how direct the airflow goes so your filter goes in the right direction. You can mark it up in your furnace.

1. Humidifier: The humidifier in your furnace has a water panel inside that requires replacement so often. You can tell if your finger goes through it when you press it.
2. Carbon Monoxide Detector: This, often neglected, element crucial for your safety. Besides replacing the batteries, you should replace yours every 5 to 7 years because when the sensor wears off, it fails, and it’s no longer helpful.
3. Thermostat: It is prevalent to forget to replace the thermostat’s batteries, but it is also essential.

The Rest: Professional Maintenance & Repair

Up to here is where you can get away with DIY chores for furnace maintenance. You can either get preventive furnace maintenance services for everything we covered and address repairs and more extensive replacement. To care for your furnace, it is also good to know when to call an HVAC technician.

In this case, we are glad to help with furnace maintenance in Philadelphia as experts in HVAC preventive maintenance. Check our service page to see all how we can assist you! You can make any further consultations by contacting us!