Winter readiness: why furnace tune-up is critical

  (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

As the winter season creeps in, homeowners take steps to ensure they enjoy a warm and comfy home. You ensure our wardrobe is updated with warm clothes. You take measures to prevent pipes from freezing, insulate the walls and attic, and clear vents, gutters, and chimneys. You also prepare the car, and as you strive to ensure nothing slips off your fingers, have the heating system serviced. Hiring professionals like Rumi makes this bit more manageable. Furnace tune-up requires a lot more than you might expect. Among the typical tune-up processes includes:

  • Inspecting chimney, carbon monoxide detectors and system and safety controls
  • Covering the AC condenser
  • Changing the filters
  • Cleaning the heat exchanger
  • Cleaning and lubricating the blower motor
  • Testing the igniter switch
  • Turning on the thermostat, to name a few elements

As such, hiring a professional to manage the furnace tune-up is more practical than doing it DIY. Besides saving more time, the professionals will do a thorough job. This ensures your furnace is primed for the winter. Annual tune-ups are recommended, but you might wonder why this is so, especially considering you'll be spending hard-earned cash. Let's look at why annual furnace tune-up is critical during your winter preparedness phase.

Avoid breakdowns

Imagine getting home, locking the doors, and as you get cozy, the cold start to hit and continues throughout the night. It is frustrating, to say the least since you can hardly enjoy a good night's sleep. Furnace breakdowns during the winter are more common than you might anticipate. This is the season they are in full mode, and if maintenance is neglected, that minor wear and tear extends and cause malfunction and eventually a breakdown.

Besides the uncomfortable experience, calling an emergency service will cost you a fortune. Even when you don't go for emergency furnace service, the breakdown may have caused serious damage, requiring costly repairs and replacements. Annual furnace tune-ups limit the chances of such breakdowns. A trained expert thoroughly checks the system, identifies potential problems, and allows you to take the relevant measures to stop a concern from escalating and causing more damage to the system.

Optimal running

Wear and tear experienced through various seasons affects the unit's operations. When one part isn't at its best, it forces the rest to overwork, striving to compensate for the deficit and deliver as you need. Annual furnace tune-up by Rumi professionals provides the chance to avoid such struggles. The experts ensure every part is well lubricated, tightened and calibrated, just to mention a few aspects that keep the system operating optimally.

When every part s running as intended, you enjoy better control of the temperatures and don't have to crank up the unit to enjoy a comfortable stay. The unit runs efficiently and remains reliable throughout the cold winter season, a benefit worth every penny spent on the routine tune-ups.

Energy costs

Running the furnace requires energy, a recurring expense you could have noticed a significant upward trajectory during the winter. The increased energy bill could be due to a struggling system. You keep cranking up the thermostat to keep the house warmer, and the trend continues over the winter months. Ever wondered why; well, this is due to the wear and tear impacting how the unit runs.

As mentioned earlier, worn-out parts force the rest to work harder to cover the deficit caused. This result in more energy consumption, hence the skyrocketing bills. Declined efficiency translates to higher energy bills, which you get to address with routine tune-ups. The unit will be well calibrated, lubricated, and with each part in top shape, it won't draw excess energy to deliver the desired output. This saves you more money, which is a return on investment making professional Rumi furnace tune-ups a worthy course.

Improved safety

Furnace units are safe. Nonetheless, this is subject to their condition and their surroundings. For instance, are you using a gas furnace? This heating system is safe, but if neglected, it can become a deadly hazard. For example, the unit might have cracks, which can release carbon monoxide. This mixes the rest of the indoor air, making your home unsafe.

During the tune-ups, the experts check for cracks, heat exchanger condition, gas pressure and safety controls, to name a few things. They also help you optimize the surroundings to ensure there is no debris and dangerous materials around the unit that could restrict airflow, the unit's efficiency, or expose you to dangers like fire. Such measures optimize safety, especially since the unit is likely to stay on throughout the season, not to mention most people spend more time indoors, including more cooking which further increases risks.

Improve the unit's lifespan

Furnaces aren't cheap, and as you strive to squeeze the most out of the unit, ensuring It serves you for years can't be emphasized enough. The routine tune-ups let you realize such longevity. This is because it won't be struggling to function due to worn-out parts. The improved efficiency means you won't be dealing with more replacements and repairs, which helps keep the unit in great shape for an extended period. You won't be going to the shop for a new unit soon if you follow a practical tune-up schedule, saving you more money.

The warranty

Did you read the warranty terms and conditions? The manufacturers know that the unit can serve you for years stated and more, but only if it is well maintained. That's why the warranty usually includes a condition that the unit gets regular professional maintenance. This keeps it running well, avoiding chances of breakdowns that would see consumers using the warranty thinking the unit was faulty from production. So, if you want to enjoy the peace of mind a warranty offers, you can't afford to skip annual furnace tune-ups.

Annual furnace tune-ups don't have to be a stressful experience. You can streamline the process by enlisting services like Rumi for scheduled services. This means you won't have to go back to the market each year looking for a service, especially during a season when they are in high demand. Don't skip the tune-up; it is a chance to add more years to your unit, enjoy efficiency, and keep the energy bills lower.

This article was written in cooperation with Hannah madison