While the furnace comes in handy during the cold months of the year, it poses great safety issues, especially when it’s poorly maintained. The cool thing is that there are a number of things you can do to increase the safety levels of your appliance. Here are some of these things as given by furnace repair service providers:
Vacuum the furnace
It’s common for dust and lint to accumulate in your furnace. In addition to the dust making the furnace work harder than it should, it also becomes a fire hazard. For you to be safe, you should make a habit of vacuuming the insides of the furnace at least once every month.
If you are confident in your skills you can do the work by yourself, but if you have never done it before, hire a professional heating company to help you out.
Do you have a wall furnace? You should clean the inside of the burner apartments. Just like the rest of the furnace, clean the area once a month.
If you have a gas furnace, it’s easy to know when your furnace is ripe for vacuuming. You only need to take a look at the color of the flame. If the flame is blue, the furnace is functioning properly, but if its orange or yellow, the furnace needs some cleaning. It also might require some adjusting by a professional.
Keep the air flowing
For the furnace to function optimally, you need to keep the air flowing. When the furnace doesn’t receive enough air, it tends to consume the oxygen in the house. Low oxygen levels in the house are unsafe for you and your family.
The low oxygen also makes the furnace work harder than it should. This leads to it consuming a lot of energy. It also tends to break down regularly.
You need to get rid of any materials that might be blocking the air from flowing as well as its supposed to. Take a look at the openings of the floor registers and ensure that there is nothing blocking the air.
Undertake regular inspections
It’s vital that you regularly hire a professional to inspect your furnace. During the inspections, the professional is able to identify issues while they are in their initial stages and fix them. This gives you peace of mind that your unit is functioning properly and won’t grind to a halt in the middle of the night.
The inspections also save you money as you don’t have to hire an expensive emergency furnace repair professional to fix the issues when they come about.
During the furnace inspection, the professional should also clean the unit and replace any parts that might be faulty.
Educate the kids about furnace safety
Kids are often injured by furnaces when they are playing around them. For you to protect your kids, you should have a sitting with them and educate them about the importance of staying away from the unit.
If they aren’t too young, you should educate them on how to safely operate the appliance.
Keep flammable materials away
This goes without saying. For you to avoid fire in your home, you should keep any flammable materials away from the furnace. Some of the materials that you should ensure aren’t near the appliance include: old rags, wood scraps, gasoline, sawdust, papers, paint thinners, and any other thing that can catch fire.
If you have any of these materials in your home, you should lock them in a safe place as far away from the furnace as much as possible.
Regularly replace the air filters
The air filters regulate the amount and quality of air that gets into your house. Damaged or dirty filters make the furnace work harder than it should hence it consumes a lot of energy. When the furnace works too hard for a long time, it’s bound to break down at a certain time, which isn’t healthy at all.
For you to avoid the issues that come with dirty filters, you should make a habit of cleaning them regularly. The best time of cleaning them is once a month. If you don’t use the unit too often, furnace service Falls Church professionals recommend that you clean the furnace once every three months.
