Are you an unrepentant do-it-yourselfer? Handling many essential tasks around the home can be an excellent way to save money and ensure you get the job done correctly. However, do-it-yourself HVAC work can often be complex and may lead to more problems in the future. While basics like replacing your furnace filter are easy jobs for any homeowner, more complex work typically requires an expert.
If you've been relying on your own skills to keep your furnace running, you might be damaging its efficiency, reducing its lifespan, or even creating a dangerous situation. Keep reading to learn about three essential and easy-to-miss maintenance tasks a professional will perform during an annual service visit.
1. Burner Cleaning
Why It's Necessary: Your burners are relatively simple devices, but your furnace can't function without them. Your burners deliver the proper mix of gas and oxygen to the furnace's combustion chamber, allowing It to generate heat for your home. Over time, combustion inefficiencies can produce soot that can clog your burners and further reduce their efficiency.
Why You Need a Professional: Cleaning your burners isn't a hard task, but it does require a substantial amount of furnace disassembly. If you have a modern, high-efficiency furnace, you may have sealed burners that can be relatively difficult to reach. A professional can easily handle this job and help you avoid any mistakes or problems during disassembly or reassembly.
2. Combustion Testing
Why It's Necessary: Combustion testing involves checking the output flue of your furnace to determine the overall efficiency of combustion. Your furnace's efficiency will depend on whether you have a standard or high-efficiency model. However, problems with your furnace can lead to reduced efficiency, and a combustion analysis is often the best way to find these problems as early as possible.
Why You Need a Professional: Combustion analysis isn't a task you can handle yourself. Analyzing the combustion gases from your furnace requires specialized equipment and skills, and improperly performing this work can expose you to dangerous exhaust fumes. Additionally, understanding and interpreting the results is best left to experienced professionals.
3. Igniter Cleaning
Why It's Necessary: Like other parts of your furnace, your igniter can become dirty due to combustion inefficiencies producing soot. Dust and other contaminants can also sometimes bypass your furnace filter and enter through gaps in the furnace cabinet. If the igniter becomes too dirty, it may overheat and break.
Why You Need a Professional: Furnace igniters are relatively cheap and easily accessible parts but also very fragile. While keeping your igniter clean can help prevent a sudden furnace breakdown, improperly cleaning can ruin this essential component. Leaving this job to a professional is usually the safest option.
For more information, contact furnace services near you.
