A gas furnace is almost always going to be the most effective option for heating a home in Colorado. While a gas furnace produces a huge amount of heat and can quickly make your home warm and cozy, it can be prone to developing various issues that limit its effectiveness or prevent it from working at all. The best way to avoid this from happening is to have an experienced HVAC company fully maintain and service your furnace every fall before you need to start running your heating. In this article, we’ll explore the various reasons why furnace maintenance is so important and what benefits it can provide.
Ensuring Furnace Heats Effectively and Continues Operating Safely
No matter what type and brand your furnace is, you can pretty much be certain that it will eventually develop issues that make it work much less effectively if it’s not properly maintained. That means your heating costs will also end up being higher as a result of the furnace having to run for longer to heat your house. A gas furnace can also develop various issues that make it a safety hazard due to the risk of a fire or carbon monoxide exposure.
One thing that can greatly reduce a furnace’s effectiveness is failing to change its air filter often enough. As the air filter starts to get dirty and clog up, it greatly restricts how much air the blower can pull in. That in turn means the furnace won’t put out nearly as much hot air as it should. A dirty filter can also easily cause a furnace to overheat, which creates a chance of it catching fire.
Another common issue that can result from a lack of annual maintenance is that the burners get so dirty that they no longer produce nearly as much heat. What can happen when a furnace’s burners are dirty is that the gas flowing out of them only partially combusts and doesn’t burn cleanly. That means you end up with weak orange or yellow flames instead of much hotter, steady blue flames. The bigger issue when natural gas doesn’t burn cleanly is that it can end up producing carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is normally something you never need to worry about if your furnace is well maintained and burns cleanly since natural gas only produces carbon dioxide and water vapor when it fully combusts.
Preventing Repairs and Protecting the Furnace’s Lifespan
Another reason it’s essential that you keep your furnace properly maintained is that it helps to reduce wear and tear. This is again because a poorly maintained furnace will run much more since it can’t heat all the effectively. The more your furnace runs, the more wear and tear various components will experience and the greater chance there is of it needing to be repaired. The increased wear and tear can also have a huge impact on how many years your furnace lasts. A poorly maintained furnace can potentially end up running for almost double the amount of hours in a year than it normally would, which can obviously decrease its life expectancy.
In the Denver area, your furnace will already need to run quite a bit per year due to how cold our winters can get. Nonetheless, you can typically expect that a new furnace that’s maintained every year will last for around 15 years or potentially even a bit longer. If you don’t schedule an annual maintenance service and neglect to change the air filter every one to three months, you may find yourself having to pay for a new furnace within 10 years.
Reducing the Risk of the Furnace Suddenly Not Working
It’s quite common for certain components in a furnace to wear out and need to be replaced long before the furnace itself finally gives out. This is especially the case with components like the electronic igniter and flame sensor, which often only last for around five years due to the extreme amount of heat they experience. When maintaining a furnace, a technician will always test these components and all of the other important parts to determine if they’re beginning to wear out. If they determine that there is any issue with one of the components, they can typically replace it on the spot to help ensure the furnace should continue working properly all winter long.
If you don’t have your furnace maintained, there’s an increased chance of a component suddenly failing in the middle of winter. If a component like the igniter, flame sensor or pressure switch fails, it will prevent your furnace from turning on and leave you without heat until you can get the component replaced. That means you’ll often need to pay extra for an emergency repair since you obviously don’t want to go all that long without heat due to the risk of your home getting cold enough that your plumbing freezes.
Safeguarding Your Furnace Warranty
Virtually all new furnaces come with a manufacturer’s limited warranty that covers all of the main components in case anything fails as a result of a manufacturing defect. A standard furnace warranty is usually valid for 10 years from the date of insulation as long as you make sure to register the warranty with the manufacturer within a set amount of time, usually 90 days. Many of the more reputable manufacturers also provide a secondary warranty that just covers the furnace’s heat exchanger, and this warranty is sometimes valid for up to 15 years. The warranty on a furnace only covers the cost of any necessary replacement parts, meaning you will still need to pay the labor charges for switching out the part yourself. Nonetheless, it can still potentially save you hundreds of dollars or more, especially if a major part like the heat exchanger is defective and needs to be replaced.
The only thing about furnace warranties is that their terms almost always explicitly state that the warranty is only valid if the furnace is maintained by a certified HVAC company every year and if you take all of the other necessary maintenance steps like changing the furnace filter. That means the warranty won’t ever cover any issues that arise as a result of neglect and a lack of regular maintenance. For instance, one of the most common reasons that the heat exchanger in a furnace ends up cracking is due to the furnace overheating as a result of not changing the air filter often enough. The average cost to replace a heat exchanger is around $1,500-1,750. In some cases, you could end up having to pay $3,000 or more out of your own pocket if it’s determined that the heat exchanger failed due to a lack of maintenance. The fact that a repair such as this can be so costly should show you why it’s worth it to pay for an annual maintenance service since it can end up saving you a huge amount in the long run.
If you’re looking for a trustworthy HVAC company in Arvada or the Greater Denver area, Coffman & Company is the one to turn to. We have years of experience in all aspects of heating and air conditioning and can do whatever is necessary to ensure your home is fully comfortable all year long. Our NATE-certified technicians can service and repair all makes, models and types of HVAC equipment and have what it takes to make sure your furnace is properly maintained and ready for winter. To schedule a time to get your furnace maintained, give us a call or book an appointment online.
