How Do HVAC Systems Work?
Furnaces
For homes in Sault Ste. Marie and Algoma, furnaces are typically the core of the home HVAC system. Your furnace connects to a duct system, which carries warm air around your home.
Air Conditioning
Many homeowners integrate central air conditioning into their home comfort solution to help keep their homes comfortable all year round.
The percentage of homes with air conditioning is especially high in Ontario. In 2009, 4 of every 5 Ontarians with air-conditioned homes had central AC as part of their HVAC system, and that number has only continued to rise.
HVAC Maintenance
Regular maintenance of HVAC systems can extend the life of your home heating & cooling appliances. The regular buildup of dust, dirt, and grime can take a heavy toll on your HVAC system, so it’s important that you schedule regular maintenance appointments to help keep your entire system humming along smoothly.
What’s the Difference Between Furnace Maintenance & Furnace Repair?
Regular maintenance is like a dental checkup for your HVAC system: It involves cleaning that buildup of dust, dirt, and grime off the multiple moving parts, heating elements, filters, and other components that your system needs to keep your home comfortable.
A professional HVAC system cleaning, partnered with a maintenance visit, can help extend the life of your system and gives your technician a chance to look for and address potential problems before they become serious issues.
Early warning means you can more easily budget for repairs. Not only that but if your technician spots a problem early on, the cost to fix it is often lower than the cost of an emergency repair, which also brings with it a lot of unnecessary stress.
How Often Should I Schedule HVAC System Maintenance?
Ideally, we would all get our furnaces examined as often as possible so that no problems could form, and no dust, dirt, or grime would have a chance to settle. However, yearly maintenance should be enough to keep your HVAC system running smoothly, provided you are changing your furnace filters regularly.
HVAC Maintenance Improves Efficiency
An efficient HVAC system can save your household money in the long run by helping ensure peak efficiency and by helping you avoid costly emergency repairs. An efficient system also requires less fuel to run, which can noticeably decrease your heating or air conditioning bills.
HVAC Maintenance & Safety
Regular HVAC system maintenance plays a vital role in ensuring the health and safety of your family. Natural gas or oil-burning central warm-air furnaces create harmful exhaust, which can escape from the ducts if they aren’t properly maintained.
Faulty or poorly maintained furnaces can also produce carbon monoxide, which is deadly. Symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning include nausea, dizziness, and shortness of breath.
From 2001 to 2007, there were 74 accidental deaths in Ontario caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, all of which were caused by vehicle exhaust, escaping furnace exhaust, or faulty burners.
Safety Depends on Professional Maintenance
Some homeowners may be tempted to call an unlicensed jack-of-all-trades to do furnace maintenance. However, furnace burners, particularly natural gas burners, are dangerous when they aren’t handled carefully.
To help ensure you and your family stay safe, you should always call an HVAC professional you can trust. To ensure your maintenance technician is qualified, you should ask to see their Technical Standards and Safety Authority’s provincial registration number before they begin work.
Though you can never put a price on health and safety, we don’t all have unlimited budgets. However, by investing in regular HVAC system maintenance, you can save money by lowering your heating and air conditioning bills and by avoiding costly repairs.
Though every season can be maintenance season, we suggest scheduling your furnace maintenance in the fall and your air conditioning maintenance in the spring. That way, your home is set up to keep you comfortable all year round.
