Hot Tips for Your Heating System
As the cold weather of winter persists, it’s important for homeowners to stay up-to-date on their list of seasonal home maintenance tasks - including repairs and upkeep of their heating system. Without proper checkups, your heating system may not only...
Heating systems in poor condition, or with improper ventilation can lead to dangerous levels of carbon monoxide in the air – this factor coupled with a home’s insulation and sealed windows account for nearly 50,000 persons treated for carbon monoxide poisoning in the US each year.
Look to these tips to keep your household warm during chilly months, while ensuring safety and preventing the waste of energy and money:
Schedule routine checkups
Look to schedule a seasonal system checkup with a HVAC technician to take care of any potential leaks or blockages in your heating system, which could put you at risk for a fire and for carbon monoxide to escape in your home.
During the checkup, a technician will clean your system, replace any damaged parts, and ensure that no part of your ventilation is clogged or blocked. These seasonal tune-ups will set you back a small fee, but have the potential to reduce your heating bills and prevent larger, costlier damage in the long run.
Maintain your air filters
Build up of soot and debris can quickly clog your air filters, allowing more pollutants to enter your home. This build up impairs air quality, acts as a potential fire hazard, and can eventually cause failure of the heating system, which will result in a call for a heating and air repair service.
No matter what system you have in place, it needs adequate airflow to operate properly. With a clogged filter, your system needs to work harder to produce heat. Systems with clogged air filters eventually overheat and stop working, due to built-in limit switches that open when temperatures exceeds a designed maximum. Most heating systems have automatic reset switches and will reset when their temperature cools; however if the clogged air filter is not regularly cleaned, or replaced in cases of severe build-up, the problem will soon reappear.
To clean and maintain your air filter, first turn the system off and clean the area around the vent with a vacuum before opening the vent. After opening the screws and/or latches that secure everything, take out the air filter. Brush the dirt and dust off the filter into a receptacle outside to avoid making a mess in your home. You can then vacuum debris from the filter using a hose attachment. Afterwards, rinse the filter with a hose or tap, holding the filter so that the water flows the opposite direction from the airflow. Then, pat your filters dry with a paper towel and let air dry until all moisture is gone.
Drain water heaters
When left undrained, sediment begins to build up at the bottom of your water heater, impairing its function. If this issue is left unattended, sediment build up can increase to the extent where it leaks through faucets, causes loss of water pressure and may even cause pipes to burst.
Getting rid of the sediment deposits that accumulate every one to three years will not only help your hot water heater run more efficiently, but also prolong its life, saving you money in the long haul. Flushing your water heater is a surprisingly easy chore that takes around 20 minutes to complete.
Whether the water heater runs on gas or electric, you’ll simply turn the knob on your hot water heater’s thermostat to “off”, followed by the gas or electricity valve and the cold water supply. Next, turn on the hot water in your sink or tub to keep on throughout the entire flushing process. Doing this prevents a vacuum from forming in your water lines while you drain the hot water tank.
Open the pressure relief valve to help water drain more smoothly from the system, making sure you have a bucket beneath the drainage pipe or valve before opening – as water will begin to rush out. After opening the pressure relief valve, take a break to let the water in your hot water tank cool.
Connect a garden hose to your drainage spigot, making sure the other end of the hose leads outside or to a receptacle for the water, then turn on the spigot and drain the tank of the water heater until the water runs clear. To flush your hot water tank, simply turn on the cold water spigot leading into your hot water tank. Let it run for a few minutes until the water exiting your hose runs clear.
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