A complete guide to furnace maintenance

When the winters are just around the corner, not every furnace maintenance service can be relied upon. Furnace maintenance service providers often con you and overcharge you for maintenance when they, in reality, would not even carry out minor fixations. You should be able to calculate and justify the price that is being charged to you by a furnace maintenance service provider so that you do not pay extra and lose money.
The following steps display how furnace maintenance services work

1.       First, the flame sensor, burners, ignitor, and hoses are removed.

2.       The cabinet is wiped from the outside and inside.

3.       Debris from the cabinet is vacuumed.

4.       The air filters are inspected and replaced if need be.

5.       All the condensate hoses, traps, etc are thoroughly washed by the furnace maintenance service provider.

6.       Pressure switch hoses are inspected and replaced if in case they are brittle.

7.       If the furnace comes with a spark ignitor, it is cleaned with fine steel wool.  

8.       Furnace maintenance service providers often inspect the furnace hot surface ignitors as they should ohm out at 40 - 400 ohms.

9.       Each burner is thoroughly cleaned with a wire brush and then is blown out with high-pressure air.  

10.   The indoor fan blower wheel is inspected for dirt or debris and is removed and washed if needed.  

11.   The furnace vent piping is thoroughly inspected to ensure that all the joints are properly connected. Furnace maintenance service providers make sure that there are no sags left in the vent piping. The vent termination is then checked and they make sure it is clean and correctly installed.

12.   The heat exchanger assembly is visually checked for signs of rust, soot or cracks in the exterior walls.

13.   The furnace is then reassembled and checked for proper operation.  

14.   A combustion analyzer is used to test for proper combustion.  

You should only go for licensed, insured and professional furnace maintenance service providers that are sure to inspect and service your heating system properly and are able to identify any possible deficiencies. They should make any essential repairs before it turns into a more costly repair job.