There’s no doubt, it gets really cold in Winnipeg. The average temperature in January is a frigid -15.4 °C, so you want to really make sure your furnace is in top condition.
What are some steps you can take to maintain your furnace throughout the year so that your house is warm when you need it most? There’s a lot to keep in mind, and most of it needs to be done before the truly cold winter weather starts.
Let’s take a look at 6 winter furnace tips to keep your winter warm and cozy even if it’s ice-cold outside.
Check Your Thermostat
Your thermostat should match the temperature of your house so that you can raise or lower the temperature as needed. If you feel like the thermostat is off, you may find that your furnace isn’t turning on when it should, or that it’s heating when you’re already comfortable.
If your thermostat is wrong, no matter what time of year it is, you’ll want to get that fixed right away by calling for furnace repair in Winnipeg. Otherwise you’ll pay too much in utility bills and be uncomfortable all year! An HVAC technician can help you see where the problem is in your heating and cooling.
Keep the Filter Clean
The furnace filter is tucked away out of sight, but that doesn’t mean you can forget about it all year. The filter is installed where the return duct enters your furnace and cleans the air as it enters the HVAC unit to be heated. That allows the furnace to circulate clean, warm air throughout your home.
A furnace filter removes all kinds of contaminants, including dust, dust mites, pet dander, pollen, and more. An inexpensive filter will do a good job of keeping your air clean, but if you struggle with allergies or asthma, you might want to upgrade to a more expensive filter that can provide better air quality.
Air filters should be changed every 30 to 90 days if you’re using the less expensive brands, while more expensive filters may last 90 days or more.
Reduce Heat Loss in Your Home
Your furnace works hard to keep your home comfortable, but if you’re losing warm air to the outside, you’ll never feel like there’s enough heat. Fortunately, you can get a home energy efficiency evaluation to see where you might be losing heat and taking in cold air.
A professional can use specialty cameras to find out where the largest problems are and suggest improvements. You can also tackle some of the most common culprits — the attic and crawl spaces. By improving insulation in those areas, you can dramatically reduce the amount of heating and cooling your home needs and save a lot of money in the process.
You can also add weather stripping to your windows or seal ducts if those areas turn out to be concerns as well.
Do Routine Maintenance on Your HVAC System
An HVAC specialist can come to your home once a year to review your heating and cooling systems and make sure everything is working well. Getting a furnace maintenance plan can be a great way to get this done regularly.
What will the annual HVAC maintenance include? The expert will look at electrical connections to ensure that they are not loose or failing. A loose connection can be a fire hazard, so it’s essential to look them over regularly.
The technician will also look for exhaust and flame issues to ensure your safety, and make sure that the blower motor is working well. If your blower motor fails, the system won’t work at all, which can lead to some very cold winter nights!
Annual maintenance also includes looking at the coils inside and outside your home, which need to be cleaned to avoid inefficient heating or furnace failure. The chambers, refrigerant levels, and filters will also be checked to ensure everything looks good.
Annual HVAC maintenance is essential if you want to stay comfortable throughout the year without having to do a list of furnace cleaning tips yourself. You can do this review in the fall, before the winter hits, to ensure everything is in working order and safe.
Check For Covered or Closed Vents
As warm air circulates through your home, it enters various rooms through the HVAC vents. If one room is particularly cold in the winter, make sure that the heating vents have not been covered up.
Sometimes vents are inadvertently covered by furniture or rugs, which makes a big difference in how well they stay comfortable. Or, you might discover that a vent lever has been moved to the closed position, meaning that heat won’t come through that vent at all.
If you have children or pets, it’s quite likely that a vent will be accidentally covered up by toys, pet beds, or someone laying on the vent. Checking regularly to ensure that the vents are clear will help your home stay warm in every room.
Check the Outside Exhaust Vent
If you don’t have an annual HVAC inspection, you’ll want to do some of the maintenance yourself. Most importantly, make sure that the exhaust flue outside is clear. If it’s not, you could have a buildup of very dangerous gasses, including carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide.
These gasses can lead to serious illness and even death. You might notice symptoms like headaches, dizziness, nausea, and fatigue. However, by the time these symptoms develop, you’re already in serious danger.
Keeping exhaust vents clear and open to the outside helps protect you, but you may also decide to get a multi-gas monitor to help ensure that you know immediately if dangerous gasses build up in your home.
Stay Warm in Winnipeg This Winter!
Making sure you have the right furnace maintenance and cleaning plan will help you stay nice and warm in your home this winter. If you haven’t given your HVAC system much thought, you’re not alone.
However, this can be the year it changes! Contact Abundant Air for a furnace maintenance appointment or to schedule annual maintenance today.
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