The average American household spends $1,000 on heating for their home every winter. With prices of everything increasing, anything that can be done to contain or lower expenses is more than welcome. One way to contain costs is to have maintenance and furnace repair in Sacramento done to increases output and efficiency.
What makes up a typical heating system?
There are three main components of a home heating system:
- The thermostat senses the temperature and determines when the temperature has to be increased.
- The heater and blower; the heater generates heat in the combustion chamber of the furnace and the blower distributes it.
- The ducting system is what delivers the warm air and returns to cool air to the furnace.
The cycle of sensing, warming and distribution goes on all winter long.
Why would furnace repair in Sacramento become necessary?
Everything about the heating, ventilating and air conditioning system in a home is mechanical and electrical, the components need maintaining, servicing and periodically, repairing. Although many people leave the furnace to professionals, it is possible to do small routine work yourself which may delay the need for furnace repair Sacramento.
Inspection: Look around the furnace; you should not see any evidence of soot on or near the furnace. Turn the temperature up on the thermostat until the furnace comes on, the flame in the burner should be steady and burn blue, not yellow or orange and certainly not sputtering and flickering. If you observe this, your furnace has poor combustion and a professional technician needs to be called in.
Clean: After the furnace cools, remove the sheet metal sides and give the interior a good vacuuming. Using a damp cloth; clean the fan blades on the blower and any other places that are inaccessible to the vacuum. Check if the blower fan has an oil cup, if it does add a couple of drops of motor oil. Many fan motors are sealed but it does not hurt to check.
Repair: DIY furnace repair in Sacramento will probably be limited to the drive motor fan belt. Check the condition of the belt, if it is cracked on the underside, it needs replacing. When you replace the belt, replace it with one identical, perhaps taking the old belt with you to the store is a good idea. When you replace the belt, push down on it, the belt should give about one half inch, if it doesn’t it can be adjusted by loosening the motor mounts and sliding the motor either backwards or forwards to get the desired effect.
Replace: About once a month during the heating season, replace the filter. The entire system is working overtime if it has to push air through a filter which is plugged solid with dust and dirt.
Call Gilmore Heating Air & Solar, have their experienced technicians tune up your furnace so that it runs at peak efficiency. For more information, visit them online.
