Worried about the hike in your heating bills? One way to keep costs down is to go for a heating tune up. If you haven’t been calling in heating contractors to deal with your furnace, then that could be one reason why your heating bills are on the rise. If your furnace hasn’t been serviced for months, it’s likely that some parts are already so worn or in danger of breaking down and this has caused the rest of the furnace to work twice as hard. So how do you perform a heating tune up? Here’s what you need to do, according to DoItYourself:
1. Assess the problem. Inspect your furnace thoroughly. Is there any black soot around it? What about combustion residues? This could be signs of poor combustion or that some part of the HVAC system overheated. However, if you don’t encounter these signs, then proceed. Turn on the thermostat. Observe the flames. Are they steady and blue? Then those are good signs. If they yellow or orange and seem to be on flickering, then you might have a combustion problem on your hands, which is what a soot build-up usually means. If it’s a combustion problem, you’ll need to look into hiring a heating tune up professional instead of DIYing the problem on your own.
2. Clean the parts thoroughly. One thing that could be slowing your furnace down is simply too much dirt and dust inside. That’s a simple problem to fix. All you have to do is turn off your thermostat, your circuit break—the one your furnace is connected too and start cleaning every inch of the furnace. Use a vacuum, preferably one with a long nozzle, to get into hard to reach areas and leave no inch unturned until your satisfied that you’ve eliminated any signs of dust and grime. Also, check your blower fan. Are there oil cups by the central shaft? If you see a few that aren’t sealed off, no worries. Those don’t to be oiled. For the unsealed cups though, put in a few drops of oil.
3. Repair or Replace. Does your blower use a fan belt? Check the belt. If the belt is cracked and dry in places, you’ll need to toss that over for a new one. Make sure you pick the same size for the belt. And check the condition of the furnace filter as well. Changing it once a month is good practice and should be handy for lowering your bills.
