Gas Furnace Maintenance Checklist for Your Home
As the seasons change, one of the most important tasks you can do in your home is checking your furnace. Whether you’re spring cleaning or getting cozy for the colder months, inspecting your home’s furnace is important for its overall health and safety. Checking your furnace also ensures that your house stays at your set comfortable temperature. Follow these simple maintenance tips for your gas furnace and get ready for the new season.
Clean the Area Around Your Furnace
This is the simplest maintenance task you can do. Cleaning around your home’s gas furnace helps keep spots like the air intake clear so it can continue to work properly. While you're cleaning, make sure to focus on areas like:
- Vacuuming around the base of the furnace and by air intakes
- Dust the outside surface of the furnace and ducts
- Move any large items away from air intake
- Remove any floor or ceiling vents in your home and vacuum within to remove dust and debris
This task also makes it easier for any routine maintenance, filter change-outs or general servicing since furnaces tend to be in cramped spaces within your house.
Change Your Filter
Furnace filters are vital to your home’s indoor air quality and the health of your furnace. It’s important that you change your 1″ filter every three months (or 90 days) to ensure that you’re continuing to trap contaminants like dust, pollen, dander and more for recirculating throughout your home. This also helps keep that dirt and debris from entering your furnace system while keeping your energy costs down.
Tip: Before chucking your old filter, take a picture of the size that's printed on the side of the filter. That way when you buy a new one you can use that picture as reference so you'll know you're getting the right one.
Check All Electrical & Gas Connections
Make sure that all of your gas and electrical connections are secure. Weak connections to the gas supply poses a fire hazard, and poor electrical connections can cause additional issues. Ensure that they’re safe, and have your HVAC technician check and secure them during a routine inspection.
Inspect Your Flame Sensor
Typically, modern gas furnaces don’t sport a pilot light like they once did; they often are equipped with a flame sensor. This sensor is an important safety feature on your furnace as it detects the flame that lights within the system and shuts down the gas supply if it doesn’t sense that flame. Have your flame sensor checked during a routine scheduled maintenance visit to make sure that it’s free of debris or dirt and in proper working order.
Schedule Routine HVAC Maintenance
During the changing of seasons, your HVAC system and gas furnace go through a major flip from hot to cold and vice versa. Scheduling routine checkups or preventative maintenance with your trusted HVAC technician can help avoid bigger issues down the line as the season progresses. You can even set up a maintenance schedule so an HVAC technician can come out to your home as regularly as needed so your gas furnace is in top form.