Yes, it’s true that springtime is arriving. You’ll soon be smelling flowers everywhere you go. But in the meantime, you’re not quite done using your heating system for the season. And if there’s a problem, even if you’re tempted to postpone a service appointment, you should have your furnace checked out right away. Here’s why.
Problems Don’t Stay Small
When a problem begins, it usually doesn’t seem like a big deal. You’ve probably noticed this with your own health. The first sign of a cold is a mild symptom, like a bit of a runny nose. But from your long experience living in your body, you know that a bigger problem is developing, and you should plan on taking good care of yourself in the coming days.
Your furnace doesn’t need vitamin C or hot tea to feel better. But when a little issue begins, your heating system does need help from a qualified HVAC technician to prevent that issue from worsening. That way, things will get better when the problem is still small enough to be a quick, easy, inexpensive fix.
For example, if your furnace is making an unpleasant groaning sound, as though it’s tired of working and can’t wait for summer, this is probably caused by the bearings in the motor wearing down. It’s easy for your technician to swap them out for new bearings and add some lubricant, getting that motor back to working smoothly without complaint.
But if you ignore the sound and keep running your furnace, you’ll end up with a much worse situation. That motor won’t run well with worn-down bearings. There will be too much friction, which causes the motor to heat up. Perhaps your furnace’s limit switch will shut down the system in time, causing insufficient heating. If it doesn’t, that motor will get hotter and hotter until the wiring fuses together and shorts out. Now you need a whole new motor!
A Struggling Furnace Is Inefficient
Whether your furnace is gas or electric, you pay a monthly bill to keep it running. And you’re probably not delighted at how much you have to pay. (Perhaps you’re the one making the groaning sound in this example!) You certainly don’t want to have to pay more just to get the same amount of heat — or less, if your furnace’s output has decreased due to the problem.
But paying more for energy is exactly what will happen if heating system issues don’t get repaired! Anything that causes the furnace to function poorly will result in it running more of the time, trying to make up for the difficulty in generating heat. Running more means using more energy, which means you’ll be paying higher bills.
Going back to our earlier example, if something in the system is overheating and the limit switch shuts it off, that will allow time for it to cool down. Then, getting the signal from the thermostat that it’s still too chilly in the house, the furnace will start up again. Almost immediately, it will get too hot and shut down, over and over. And since starting uses more energy than simply continuing to run, your bills can get much higher very quickly!
Furnace repair in Winchester, VA can save you a lot of money, not to mention worry and inconvenience. Get your heating system sorted out so you won’t have to think about it again until next fall!
AllTech Services, Inc. is your trusted resource for all your heating and cooling concerns. Contact us today!