How You Can Prevent the Need for Heating Repair
At this point in the year, it’s safe to say that the coldest days and nights are behind us until winter creeps back into the air once more. Now is a great time to get that last heating repair out of the way before shutting your system down one last time for the season. It’s also a great time for reflection, though.
No, there is no way in which you can hope to make your heating system 100% reliable in the future.
With a bit of extra attention and care, however, you can help to make it more reliable—as reliable as possible, actually. That is why, in today’s post, we want to give you some tips and reminders about how you can help to prevent the need for heater repair in Durham, NC. Do we live in the coldest region of the country? No, of course. Does that mean that you should put up with an unreliable performance from your home heating system? Definitely not!
Don’t Block Off Your Vents
Homeowners block off vents for a couple of reasons. The first is quite simple: they don’t mean to. Depending upon where the vents in your home may be, you may stack boxes or push furniture in front of your vents. It’s easy to forget about them when you’re rearranging or moving things around in a hurry. Doing so can cause problems, though.
Another reason why vents get closed off is that homeowners intentionally close off the louvers on the vent all the way. This may be done in an attempt at zone control, but that’s what zone control systems are for! Just blocking off a vent does nothing to modulate airflow or redirect it. It just sends air to a dead end. Either way, a system can overheat and suffer excessive strain leading to damages if it’s not able to distribute heat effectively.
Do Change Filters Regularly
This is the best task that you can complete on your own when it comes to protecting the integrity of your home heating system. If you use a forced air heater like a furnace or a heat pump, then you have an air filter that needs regular changing. If you don’t change that air filter regularly, then you run the risk or operational problems that could have been very easily avoided.
The dirtier your filter is, the harder that heater is going to have to work in order to force air through it. That strain can lead to damages if you let it go on long enough. Plus, dirty filters can really decimate energy efficiency!
And Definitely Schedule Professional Maintenance!
This is the big one. If your heater is not tuned up by a professional on an annual basis, then you are really asking for trouble. Your system doesn’t have to break down entirely to be in trouble, remember.
Dropping efficiency, cool spots in the house, short cycling, strange sounds or even odors—all of these issues suggest that trouble is brewing. Scheduling routine maintenance can’t completely eliminate the risk but, paired with prompt action when such problems do start to occur, it can help you to minimize any damage to your system or disruption to your comfort.