For the last several weeks, your heating system has probably been running around the clock. While there are some times of the day when the thermostat can be turned down a bit, for the most part during the winter months the heating system is working hard.
Now that there is a promise for early spring, and the weather has broken a little bit, it is time to start thinking about running your heating system a little bit less and less, until you don’t need it at all. But, before you just turn off your heating system and switch over to the air conditioning, it is essential to the preservation of your heating system to do some maintenance.
Going into these next few weeks, make sure to follow some of these tips for heater maintenance, before you put the system to rest for the season:
- Check the thermostat to make sure that it is registering the right temperature in the rooms of your home. To do this, switch your thermostat to air and turn the system down a bit. If your air conditioner kicks on and the air that is blowing out is cool, then the thermostat is working and you don’t need to do anything else.
- Make sure to change your air filter. This is something that should be done monthly, but definitely done before you turn the heating system off. Filters are fairly inexpensive, and it is a good idea to buy several so that you have them on-hand. Set an appointment on your calendar to change the filter each month to ensure the system works at its best.
- Have your system inspected by a professional in the next couple of months. It is always a good idea to have your system inspected as the weather changes from cold to warm and vice versa. A system that is inspected twice per year will last much longer than a system that is only service when something breaks.
While your heating system may have run just fine up to now without any major problems, there could be some minor problems that will be trouble next year when you turn the heater on again.
