Bought Your First Home With Your First Furnace? 3 Tips To Keep It Running Well
If you have purchased your first home and it has a furnace, you may be apprehensive since you have never used a furnace before. Fortunately, you don't have to be as there are many things you can do to the furnace to keep it running well for you. Below are three of these things to help you get started.
1. Inspect the Filters
There are likely two filters that go with your furnace. One filter will be inside the furnace generally close to the blower, and the other filter will be close to the thermostat. You need to make sure you keep both filters clean on a regular basis. If you do not, dust and debris will build up on the filters. When this happens, this dust and debris can get on the internal parts of the furnace, which will cause damage over time.
Over time you will have to replace the filters with new ones. How often you need to do this will depend on how often you run the furnace.
2. Inspect the Flame
Turn the power off to the furnace before you do anything. There should be a switch on the back of it to turn it off. If not, turn the breaker off that controls the furnace.
Once the power is off, lift the combustion chamber door and pull it out. If you see a cover, this is a burner cover, and you also need to remove this. This type of cover is usually screwed in, so you will have to remove the screws.
Turn the furnace back on and turn up the thermostat until the burners activate. The burner flame should then come on. The flame should be blue only. If it is any other color, then you need to turn the furnace off and call a professional to come to your home and repair the furnace for you.
3. Lubricate the Motor
The motor must be lubricated to keep the motor cool. With newer furnaces, the manufacturer lubricates the motor and places a seal over the lubrication. This means you will never have to lubricate it yourself.
Older furnaces do not have permanently sealed lubrication on the motor. To determine what your furnace has, look at the motor. If you see oil ports that have a cover, then you have to lubricate the motor yourself. You should lubricate it approximately once per year. The best time is at the end of fall before you turn the furnace on for winter. Purchase furnace oil and put a couple of drops on each oil port. This is enough lubricant to last all year.
Contact a furnace technician for a heating tune-up on a yearly basis. This will ensure that you will not have any problems with your furnace.