Why Regular Furnace Maintenance is Essential for Comfort and Efficiency

With the approach of Fall and crisp temperatures, we will depend on our furnace for comfort and health for the next few months. However, ignoring regular HVAC maintenance can be a mistake. Without maintenance, you can expect:

Neglecting Furnace Maintenance Will Make Your Furnace Work Harder

• Failing to change the air filter, a simple maintenance task, will create stress throughout the furnace components. The filter collects airborne particles with each cycle until they eventually clog the filter. This will restrict airflow through the filter and cause the blower motor to strain to continue moving air. Without air movement, the whole furnace works hard to keep the home warm.
• Time and use cause wear and tear on electrical switches, capacitors, and motors. This wear needs to be addressed.
• Expect the heating cycles to be longer, trying to make the home warm. Expect heating cycles to be more frequent than expected.
• Natural gas furnaces bring flammable/explosive gas into a home and burn it to produce heat. Maintenance tasks remove the rust and soot that can develop and inhibit combustion. Rust can also weaken the heat exchanger, releasing carbon monoxide into the home.

Problems Migrate and Spread

• If the air filter restricts air and the blower motor struggles to push heat throughout the home, the strain moves into the heating element or burner assembly, and to electrical parts up and down the system controls. These factors make diagnosing problems difficult and time-consuming.
• Since the whole system must work harder, it takes more energy to warm the home, and more energy means it costs more to do the same task.
• All of this stress also shortens the useful life of the furnace and air conditioner, requiring replacement of the system earlier than necessary.

From Comfort to Discomfort

• Poor maintenance affects indoor air quality. A dirty filter and dirty vents allow plenty of airborne contaminants to continue to circulate. A new quality filter will remove allergens and pathogens from the indoor air.
• When the system struggles to push warm air into the home it affects the comfort factor; it just “feels” colder in the home. This may show up when rooms that are normally warm are colder than expected.
• The ultimate discomfort happens when the furnace breaks down in the middle of a cold winter night.

Heating and Air Conditioning to Cost More

• A poorly maintained furnace is not energy efficient. Ignoring maintenance can increase the energy bills from 10% to 50% each month.
• Lack of maintenance leads to more frequent repairs; the cost of repairs exceeds the cost of regular maintenance visits. Totaling the accumulated repair bills brings the fact to light.
• Poor maintenance shortens the useful life of HVAC systems, reducing the value received from the equipment. Replacing the system early costs many times more than the cost of regular maintenance.

Furnace Maintenance is Key to Efficiency, Comfort, and Longevity. Let Mullinix AC Help!

Routine furnace maintenance is key to your furnace’s optimal performance, comfort, and energy efficiency. Skipping furnace maintenance can cause the furnace to work harder, leading to an increase in your utility bills, more frequent HVAC repairs, and a shortened HVAC system lifespan.

Additionally, poor maintenance can impact indoor air quality and comfort, potentially causing breakdowns during the coldest months. For more information about R.M. Mullinix and our furnace maintenance services, schedule an appointment or visit our AC maintenance information page.