Do It Yourself Furnace Checkup: Money Saving or Safety Mistake?
Does Your Furnace Need An Annual Checkup?
Heading into the winter, it seems as though there is a long checklist of home maintenance tasks to perform to prepare for brutal winter weather, and a furnace checkup is one of them. Is a furnace checkup really necessary though? Is it, perhaps, possible to do the work yourself?
Get The Most For Your Money
Furnaces are inherently inefficient. For example, if your furnace is only 50% efficient, then approximately half of the money you spend heating your home is wasted.
While unproductive heat loss is inevitable, there are some things that you can do about it. Having your furnace serviced by a qualified professional before it gets cold will give you the opportunity to correct any potential problems that might further degrade your furnace's performance.
If your winter is short, heating bills low and the cost of a service is high, then it might only make sense to have it performed every few years. Otherwise, the longer and harder you expect your furnace to work, the more often you should be prepared to employ preventative maintenance.
Do-It-Yourself Furnace Maintenance
Is preparing your furnace for the winter something you should do yourself? Unless you're well-schooled in furnace maintenance, the answer is no. There are many components in furnaces that are sensitive and easily damaged, or even dangerous if not handled correctly. If you need to have your furnace serviced, call a qualified professional.
That's not to say that there is nothing you can do - the simple task of replacing your furnace's air filters will significantly improve its efficiency. For less than $10/month, you can improve both your air quality and reduce the amount of energy that your furnace wastes - which is money that you WON'T have to spend on your heating bill!