Furnace cleaning is important for your home’s maintenance and your family’s safety
Your furnace is the hardest working member of your household. It runs tirelessly through the winter months to keep your family comfortable. Making sure your furnace is clean is the simplest way to keep it running for years. With furnace prices on the rise, ensuring yours remains healthy is more important than ever!
Dirt is the biggest enemy of any furnace. It wastes fuel and drastically lowers the energy efficiency of both electric and gas furnaces. Three parts of your furnace should be cleaned every year – the air filter, blower and motor. If you are feeling handy, you can try to take care of your furnace air filter first.
The filter system should be replaced or cleaned at the beginning of the heating season and once a month during the winter and other periods of continuous use. Before you begin the project, make sure the furnace is shut off. Check your furnace air filter by taking it out and holding it up to the light. If you can see any clogs on the furnace filter, it is time to get a new one.
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Most disposable furnace filters are made from fiber mesh in a cardboard frame. When replacing one of these filters, look for the arrow on the frame which shows the direction of air flow. The arrow should always point away from the return-air duct and toward the blower. If you have a permanent filter, it is usually sprayed with coating chemicals. Clean the filter according to the manufacturer’s guidelines which are usually attached to the furnace housing.
After you find the correct way to clean or replace your furnace filter, look for the metal panel on the front of the furnace. It is usually located below the return-air duct and between the duct and blower system. The panel may be marked as having the filter in it or it may form a lid with the front of a boxlike projection on the furnace housing.
Remove the metal panel off its holding hooks or unscrew the panel from the box. Some furnaces feature a housing instead of a box, so check your manufacturer’s instructions. On other units, the filters are exposed. In this case, slip the filter up and out of the u-shaped tracks that hold it in place. Now, you can inspect or clean the filter depending upon the kind of furnace you own.
When you are done with the furnace filter, you can move on to the blower and motor. Again, make sure the furnace is not running while you are cleaning it. Cleaning the blower is critical if the furnace has a squirrel cage fan, as these openings can easily become clogged with dirt. To clean the blower, remove the panel that covers the filter or the panel on the front of the furnace to gain access to the blower. The panel may be a slip fit one, in which case, it will be on hooks or held in place by retaining screws. Access to the inside of the blower is usually gained by sliding out the fan unit which is held on its track by screws.
After a quick clean, you can reassemble the furnace and turn it on. If you feel uncomfortable with the process or if you may have made a mistake somewhere along the way, please call a professional. They will be happy to come out and make sure you are safely cleaning your furnace or help you reassemble it if it’s in pieces.
By: Wesley Holm
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