Furnaces are generally easy care and do not require excessive furnace maintenance, but some care and preventative furnace service can do a lot to prolong the life of your unit, and maintain a healthy home.

The Key To Furnace Longevity

The best way to maintain furnace function and healthy air quality is to regularly clean the furnace and maintain it annually.

Furnace and heater service calls for maintenance are priced affordably by heater service and repair companies. It's a small investment that pays for itself over the course of the heating months. Annual furnace maintenance service usually includes:

5 Easy Ways To Maintain Your Furnace

• Annual Furnace Maintenance—completed by a certified furnace service technician; the technician will go through your entire furnace or heater, change all filters, vacuum parts that are inaccessible to you, lubricate moving parts, and perform an overall examination. This is the most important thing you can do for furnace maintenance.
• Replace Filters Monthly—during the heating season, or more often as needed (when light does not show through the filter). This ensures adequate air flow and healthy home air, and decreases furnace draw and workload.
• Vacuum Furnace Area Monthly—less often in the off-heating season, to keep dust, dirt, and allergens out of the furnace. With the furnace turned off, vacuum the accessible parts of the motor, blower, and fan. Leave more thorough heater maintenance cleaning for the heater service tech.
• Check Heating Ducts Annually—inspect ducts for air/heat leaks. Joints are particularly at risk. A quarter of your heat or more could be lost to leaky heat ducts.
• Be Aware Of Changes—any significant change in furnace or heater operation merits a call to your furnace/heater repair company. Listen for noisy operation, poor/inefficient or cool air blowing from heaters, lack of radiation from forced hot water heaters, and discrepancies between the thermostat and air temperature.

Buy Reliable Furnace Brands

If you buy right from the start, you'll have fewer difficulties in the long-run. Some excellent names to consider in furnace sales are

• Carrier
• Bryant
• Payne
• Heil
• Trane
• American Standard
• Amana

If your regular furnace service and repair company also offers furnace sales, it is a good idea to buy from them; they will be familiar with your needs, and will be able to handle all your furnace/heater repair and warranty work should the need present itself.

Hire A Professional For Furnace Maintenance And Repair

Furnace repair is not a job for the lay homeowner; instead, find a reliable heater service to see to your furnace repair needs; and remember, hiring a professional for annual furnace maintenance service will prolong the life of your investment even further. It's a small cost once a year that will easily pay for itself over the life of your unit—a life that could span 15 years or more with good heater maintenance.

West Coast Chief Repair is a respected HVAC and appliance service company offering new furnace sales and furnace service to Los Angeles and the cities in the greater LA metropolitan area.