Now that the kids are back in school and have hit the books again (or laptops), have you noticed the fall harvest merchandize post cards and catalogs popping up daily in your mail? They’re full of all things pumpkin and orange from front door decor to pillows to lighting to spice lattes to costumes and more. You’ll surely see the fall leaves in the mail before they drop off your trees.
Our favorite retailers want us to think ahead about fall, but we suggest you also take it one step further. Now is the time to consider scheduling the winter maintenance of your hardworking furnaces and fireplace chimneys before the cold of November and December. As summer ends next month, your friendly HVAC technician will likely have some extra time to stop by this fall.
Over the summer with our heat, fires and a hurricane, it’s also a good idea for your HVAC technician to inspect your natural gas furnace. A furnace inspection in Southern California might include: lubricating motor bearings and other moving parts, a test of the igniter, cleaning the burner, inspecting the heat exchanger, adjusting the gas flow, inspection of the venting and tightening motor belts.
It is also good to inspect the wall thermostat, including voltage and current (and backup batteries too). By mid-October, adjust your heating temperatures and schedule for the winter months. Be sure to change out the room vent filters as well. Clogged filters are inefficient, which requires longer heating cycles that are expensive at today’s higher natural gas prices. Dirty filters also spew nasty dust particles into the air that can compromise respiratory health.
There are many different types of furnaces: natural gas is one, but there are also electric furnaces too. Be sure to review your system manual and check the required or suggested maintenance schedule. You might still have a warranty—so don’t neglect maintenance because a poorly maintained system can be expensive to repair and plain unsafe for you and your family.
At Helfrich Associates, we often find neglected HVAC units during remodeling or construction damage projects. Based on our experience, we recommend maintaining your heating system every year to keep it running efficiently and trouble-free. We also can’t recommend strongly enough that you install a carbon monoxide leak detector or a combination CO/smoke detector because CO concentrations can cause death, and they’re now required in new construction, additions and for re-sale.
While we’re talking about the danger of CO gas, when was the last time that you had your fireplace chimney inspected and/or cleaned? Depending on where you live, your fireplace might be supplementing your furnace and often can be an everyday source of heating in colder areas. A dirty chimney can cause drive smoke to back into your home, heat build-up and even fires. Don’t forget to re-open the chimney damper before you light that first fire.
Before we leave the topic of natural gas, have you had an appliance technician look at your gas cooktop or combination cooktop and oven? Chances are if you have an older model, then you might want to consider having a technician test the oven temperature calibration before you start your holiday baking to avoid any surprises.
Some of the more energy-efficient ovens have electronic temperature sensors that may need replacement—not to mention replacing the oven lights which are special high-temperature lights that aren’t always available off-the-shelf at your local hardware store. The oven lights also can be in hard to reach locations or require special tools and expertise. Bundling these inspection items into one annual kitchen appliance inspection service call can save you money too.
If you’re planning a kitchen remodel that includes a new natural gas cooktop and oven, you might want to watch what your community is doing in terms of such devices. At Helfrich Associates, we’ve done many kitchen repairs and remodels. We’re in touch with local building departments across Southern California and the Southwest—so we can help you navigate the design, building permit, construction and post-construction final approval processes.