Why You Need to Be Thinking About Your Furnace This Summer

Summer is here, and that can mean a ton of different things. Under normal circumstances, that would mean things like vacation plans, hitting the local swimming pool, and celebrating the long hours of the day with outdoor activities of a wide variety. Of course, this year has been anything but ordinary, so those things may have changed a bit. However, one thing that almost certainly hasn’t changed is the incredible importance that your HVAC system plays on your day to day life. In fact, with so many people working from home, there’s a good chance your air conditioning and heating are even more vital right now than they ever were before.

What does that mean for you as a homeowner, that means now more than ever is the time to start thinking about your heater. “Wait a minute,” you’re probably thinking to yourself right now. “Why on earth should I be worried about my heater when it’s blistering hot outside?” That’s a good question, but it also makes the answer fairly obvious: because you don’t need or depend on it right now. In this blog, we’ll explain what this means in greater detail.

Always Be Thinking One Season Ahead

As a heating maintenance company, we like to advise our customers to always be thinking ahead by one season. The overwhelming majority of problems with heating and cooling systems occur during the first cycle of the season, and many of those problems emerge simply because that system has been dormant or inoperative for such a long period of time. However, when you have your system maintained before the start of that season, you’ll greatly reduce the chances that your HVAC system experiences the problem because you had the tune-up service performed before you needed it. Thus, you’ll enjoy energy-efficient heating right from the start of the first real chill of fall or winter.

This policy applies to both your heater and your air conditioner. To give you an example of what we mean, here is an example of a heating and cooling maintenance calendar you can follow.

Summer

During the summer season, your air conditioner will be running full blast and you’ll be doing everything you can to stay out of the heat. What that means is you won’t be running your heater at all whatsoever. What better time to give it the service and preparation it needs? Addressing your furnace when you don’t need it gives you the opportunity to fix any potential problems that could have emerged over the previous season and the summer months, plus you’ll be able to tune it up and get it ready for the moment you need it this winter.

We strongly advise booking a heating tune-up service starting at the end of August or early on in the month of September in order to avoid the rush and make sure your heater is ready to go right away in the event the weather turns cold particularly early.

Fall

Fall usually means the end of the cooling season and the start of the heating one. It isn’t uncommon for almost everyone throughout the Portland area to have fired up their heater for the first time before this season ends, and in fact sometimes the middle of fall calls for heating in some years. That means you’ll want to prepare your heater with a tune-up service as soon as the season begins. Schedule yours within the first couple of weeks of September, when the weather is usually still quite warm.

Winter

Once winter rolls around and your heater is running almost every day, it’ll be time to start thinking about the cooling season and running your air conditioner. Much the same way you did for your heater, winter is the best time to schedule maintenance for your air conditioner. In fact, many HVAC contractors often offer specials for air conditioning tune-up services, repairs, and even new installations during the winter months purely because demand is so low. If you’re able to delay any serious repairs and have them done during the winter months, you could save a substantial amount of money and be ready to enjoy a cooler and more energy-efficient home as soon as the weather warms up.

Spring

We strongly recommend scheduling your air conditioning tune-up service in the final weeks of February and the early weeks of March for best results. Likewise, spring is an important time to pay attention to your air filter. Because air filters are often working so much harder due to high amounts of pollen and other debris in the air, they fill up faster. When they fill up, your air conditioner could freeze and you could experience one of a whole collection of other problems as well.