Nobody wants to deal with a furnace that might risk their safety. When a homeowner purchases a gas furnace for their home, there’s an implication that they’d like this heater to run as safely and effectively as possible. There’s a real concern for homeowners who don’t pay attention or who neglect their gas-burning furnaces, and that concern isn’t unwarranted.
Does this mean a gas furnace is dangerous or out of the question for those with safety as their number one priority? Absolutely not. Gas furnaces these days are incredibly safe and efficient. That doesn’t mean as homeowners, we can’t be extra careful when performing safety inspections. That’s why we’ve got the essential safety checklist for any homeowner who is seeking to improve the health and condition of their gas furnace.
Why not improve furnace safety by giving this list a quick look from local Yonkers furnace repair experts?
Better Safe Than Sorry
While it might seem easy to take good care of a gas furnace, this doesn’t mean it should be ignored. As we like to say here, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
- Inspect the Heat Exchanger for Cracks. The heat exchanger is where the combustion happens. If there are any cracks forming on the heat exchanger, or on any part of the furnace for that matter, it’s time to call a professional to get it fixed as soon as possible.
- Clean Burners. Sometimes gas furnaces can make booming noises that sound like an explosion. This is not a good noise and is generally a sign the furnace’s burner is dirty. A dirty burner will make a furnace louder and more prone to problems. A professional should always be called to clean furnace burners.
- Keep Combustibles Away. Homeowners often have their gas furnace in the basement or in a closet full of older items being kept out of the way. That’s fine, unless those items are dangerously close to the furnace. After all, a gas furnace is burning fuel in a combustion process, which means that papers, leaves, cloth, wood, and anything that can be burned should be kept a few feet away from the system and the floors swept clean.
- Measure Temperatures Accordingly. A furnace should be able to keep a home at whatever temperature is set on the thermostat. It’s always a huge red flag if the thermostat is about 20 degrees higher than what the furnace can produce. This means that the system is failing and a professional technician needs to be called ASAP.
Hopefully, this brief list can provide any homeowner with a few items to keep in mind when dealing with a gas furnace. Not everything will be able to be inspected by someone who doesn’t have the proper licensing and experience to open a gas furnace up and examine it. Though, HVAC technicians are always happy when customers have done their homework and appropriately contact them for issues that they’ve read about. It signifies that homeowners take their heating systems as seriously as we do!
Give us a call at Yost & Campbell Heating, Cooling & Generators if there’s any furnace work that needs to be done!