What Happens During an Annual Furnace Inspection and Tune‑Up

Fall is the time to arrange for an HVAC professional to visit your home and provide maintenance for the furnace. This is an essential step for preparing for the winter weather. A tuned-up furnace will be ready to handle the rigors of cold weather with a much lower chance of suffering from malfunctions, energy inefficiency, or full breakdowns.

To help you understand better why maintenance for a furnace is so important, we’ll explain a bit more about what happens on when a professional comes to your home to inspect and tune-up the furnace.

• Checking the thermostat: This is a basic part of all heating and cooling maintenance. If the thermostat is poorly calibrated, it will mean a system that will not work accurately and which will waste power.
• Changing the air filter: The air filter in a furnace is there to protect the inside components from dust and dirt. The technician will change the filter for a fresh one so the furnace has a clean start and no airflow obstructions.
• Checking on gas flow: Most furnaces are gas-powered, and the technician will see that there are no obstructions in the gas line to the burner.
• Cleaning the burner: The burner where the gas jets ignite must be clean so that the burner will not struggle to turn on. The technician must first remove the burner in order to clean it.
• Examine the heat exchanger: The heat exchanger is the place where heat from the exhaust gas transfers to the air from the blower. If the heat exchanger shows signs of corrosion or cracking, it will need to be replaced.
• Checking the air handler: The air handler is responsible for sending air through the furnace and then out into the ventilation system. The technician will check on the blower motor and the fan to see that everything is working as it should.

There are many other steps, each designed to see that your furnace is working at its best and safest. If the technician finds anything that needs repair work, he or she will alert you to it.