Time for Fall Furnace Maintenance

Come Home To Comfort!

First and foremost is SAFETY. You want your family, and yourself, to be safe. As you peruse the Internet you will find many links that stress the importance of safety. It is not my intention to incite fear in anyone about his or her Heating or Air Conditioning system. The fact of the matter is that if you keep your heating and air conditioning equipment in good repair (that means having preventive maintenance done on a regular schedule) the equipment will give you many years of safe, reliable comfort.

To increase the safety factors of your heating and air conditioning equipment, have the equipment serviced at least once a year. Safety is the first consideration in all home equipment maintenance schedules.

Your home is your most valuable asset next to your retirement account. Part of what makes your home valuable is the air conditioning and heating equipment that makes the home comfortable when the temperature outside is not comfortable. How much do you think you could sell your house for if it didn't have an heating or air conditioning system? It definitely wouldn't sell for the same amount if it had a good, efficient, and well-maintained system installed.

The point here is that your heating and air conditioning equipment is a valuable addition to your home. Just like most people have their car (a valuable asset) serviced on a regular basis they should have their heating and air conditioning equipment (an even more valuable asset because it is attached to your home) serviced on a regular basis. Your house is far more valuable to you than your car. Just like a car, there are lots of moving parts that should be maintained on a regular basis. Have part of your most valuable asset looked at by a qualified service mechanic on a regular basis. It makes smart sense.

Maintenance Agreement Services A good service company will offer these standard services when performing the scheduled maintenance on your equipment. Most maintenance schedules will include two visits to your home. One in the spring, to check your Air Conditioning equipment, and one in the fall to check your Heating equipment. Some companies offer a discount on their services for those customers with maintenance agreements. This is in addition to the maintenance checks. Another advantage is that when your equipment does fail for whatever reason most companies put their maintenance agreement customers at the top of the list for repairs. After all, you are considered a regular customer because you have the maintenance agreement and they want to keep you as a regular customer.

On the hottest or coldest day of the year, if your equipment breaks down and the phone is ringing off the hook with requests for service, your name should go to the top of the list above those customers who do not have a maintenance agreement.

Still another advantage most companies offer for their maintenance agreement customers is no over time charge for after hour emergency calls.

When considering the company you sign a maintenance agreement with, make sure you factor in all these advantages and remember that some companies claim or advertise after hours service but when you go to make the call, you are directed to call a number and never get a call back.

Check out their reliability and ask for a list of customers. Politely call them and ask if they are happy with the service they have received in the past. Remember to ask the reference if they have ever had to use the after hours service and how it worked out.

A common misconception about having a maintenance agreement is people think that if the unit breaks down the service company will repair the unit and not charge you a service charge. While this type of maintenance agreement may exist, it is cost prohibitive and not a standard type of maintenance agreement offered by most companies.

The service company may offer you a discount on services if something does happen to your unit, but if the unit is properly maintained it should give you reliable service throughout the year.

As with anything mechanical, you will always have unexpected breakdowns, but you decreased the chances of this happening with preventive maintenance.

Heating and Air Conditioning Tip of the Season: There are many homes out there that have air handlers in the attic. If your handler is in your attic you need to be aware that in the summer your air conditioners evaporator coils operate below the dew point. This causes all the humidity in the air to condense or turn from a vapor to a liquid.

Every evaporator coil has a drain pan under it that drains into a drain tube or condensate pump.

This tube or pump then channels all the condensate that your coil produces to the outside of the home.

Inside these tubes (normally 3/4 inch PVC pipe) it is dark and moist. That promotes the growth of algae and other undesirable organic matter. Algaecide tablets need to be placed in the condensate pans to eliminate this growth so that it doesn't plug the lines and cause water damage to your ceiling. Even air handlers that have a secondary pan under them (in case the primary gets plugged) need the treatment.

Additionally, a float switch can be installed in the secondary pan that will shut down the unit if the secondary pan begins over filling. Float switches are always recommended because they will save you from buying a ceiling. If you own a home or rental property and it has air handling

units located in the attic, make sure the pans have been treated and a float switch is installed in the secondary pan. It will save you money and heartache in the future.

That is the Heating and Air Conditioning Tip of the Season that makes perfect sense and will also save you money in heating & cooling costs.

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Julian Arhire is a success coach, trainer, Certified Master of Web Copywriting and founder of EbooksChoice.com. Julian is a prolific writer and Infopreneur having written many ebooks, articles and special reports.