Boiler, Furnace Repair and Heating Service
To keep up with your Furnace, Boiler, or Heating service in Philadelphia,PA. you should practice preventative maintenance to assure your heating system runs at top performance during the winter months and to keep up with harsh weather conditions.
Make sure your air filter is dirt free and you’ll avoid harm to your furnace caused by dust build up in your equipment.
Open your supply registers. Take the time to check that each supply in your home is fully open and not loose. You would be surprised at how often we see rooms that aren’t heating well where this was the problem.
If your carbon monoxide detector has a battery, now is a good time to change that too.
Consider upgrading to a programmable thermostat to save even more money. If you already have one, check to make sure that it is programmed correctly.
Drapes and furniture can effectively block air from coming into the room. If you vacuum the louvers, you’ll also remove dust that could be drawn into your furnace.
If you have duct-work that runs through an attic or other unconditioned space, make sure that it is tight and doesn’t leak your precious, conditioned air. Once your duct-work is sealed, consider having it insulated with the proper thickness of duct insulating material. More of your warm air will be able to make it where it’s going. Boiler piping can also benefit the same way from insulation.
Turn on your humidifier. For most humidifiers (typically the bypass type), when they are set to the “on” or “winter” mode, moisture is added to your air every time the blower runs. Now is the time to change the setting to make sure you don’t suffer from winter dryness symptoms like dry skin, static shocks and nosebleeds.
Combustible materials should be moved away from both the furnace/boiler and hot water tank to prevent a hazard. In addition, move any cat litter boxes, detergents or cleaning products away from the area around the furnace or boiler. They can cause corrosive damage and greatly shorten the life of heating equipment.
Seal leaks in your home. You don’t want your nice, warm air to slip right outside or up into your attic (recessed lights are famous for allowing this to occur). What a waste! Seal leaks and install weather stripping around doors and windows using the information you gained during your Home Performance Assessment.
Let the sun shine in. Make your windows work for you. Opening the drapes on the sunny side of your home can really warm things up. You may even want to remove your screens as they can block about 25% of solar radiation. Get a Home Performance Assessment. You’ll get the most out of your heating system if you keep that nice, warm air inside your home.
Finishing a basement by building a small room around your equipment can really cause problems. You can make it difficult to service the equipment/perform repairs, reduce efficiency and insufficient combustion air in the room can cause serious health/safety issues.
Get a precision tune up every year.
You can also catch small repairs before they become major issues and verify your equipment is operating as safely as possible. Problems may still occur but will be less serious if you catch them early. Make sure the dryer vent is not too close to the air intake pipe. We have seen situations where homeowners moved their dryer vent and caused real problems with their high efficiency furnaces.
