A Total Comfort Checklist

Story by Joseph Dobrian

Furnace inspections before the cold hits could mean savings in energy and replacement costs.

If you're checking and changing the air filter on your heating unit regularly, you're on the way to keeping your home heated efficiently all winter. But that's no substitute for a thorough annual inspection—which is best handled by your heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) professional.

Aire Serv Heating and Air Conditioning, a group of independently owned and operated HVAC companies, includes an annual inspection in its maintenance agreements and has developed a checklist to ensure their technicians cover all the bases. The three objectives of the inspection—and the checklist—are to improve the customer's safety, to get the best possible performance out of the heating unit, and to provide maximum comfort.

Bruce Robinson, owner of Aire Serv of Topeka, Kansas, says that a combination of these inspections and basic maintenance by the owner can keep a furnace running safely, effectively, and economically for many years. Furnace breakdowns, he notes, are usually caused by simple neglect.

"For example," he says, "most furnaces have electronic flame sensors. If they break down, the furnace will shut itself off. Ignitors are common features on many furnaces, and checking them to see if they're about to fail is generally not something homeowners can do themselves. Better furnaces have an internal drainage system, and these drains must be periodically checked. If they clog, the furnace will think it's not working and will quit." Homeowners can learn to do most of these things on their own if they're coached by an experienced technician, but that's no substitute for an annual professional inspection.
"You can waste tremendous amounts of energy if the furnace isn't working right. You can be warm and comfortable and think nothing's wrong—until your pocketbook gets a terrible surprise soon after. Your furnace may be working, but that doesn't mean it's working economically."

The heat exchanger is the component most likely to pose a hazard within a gas-fired furnace, due to the tiny cracks that can develop in the heat exchanger. Ordinarily, only a trained professional can spot these cracks. Inspection of this essential component annually will not only provide the three key checklist objectives, but also help keep your family safe all winter long.

"The heat exchanger protects you from odorless poisonous gases that could cause sickness and in extreme cases even death," Robinson explains. "The heat exchanger has to be examined by a highly trained professional. There are several different approaches for finding cracks, and some companies, like mine, use infrared cameras that we feed into the furnace to spot defects not visible under natural light."

"Not only do we perform safety checks on the system, we also professionally clean, lubricate, and adjust the furnace," adds David Samuel, owner of Aire Serv of Southwest Missouri and Northwest Arkansas (Cassville, Missouri). "We look at everything. We can see what the furnace is doing and can make appropriate recommendations on a three-tier basis. First, we'll tell you what you need to do to take care of immediate concerns; second, we'll tell you what we can do to provide trouble-free service for the year; third, we can give you an idea of various enhancements that are available to make you more comfortable."

Samuel asks his customers several basic questions at the beginning of every inspection. Among these are:

• Do you have hot or cold spots in your home?
• Do you have any concerning noises?
• Are you prone to allergies?
• Does the house feel too hot or beyond comfort before the unit shuts off?

"One of the things we look at is airflow. If you don't have the right airflow for the size of the heater, that will put stress on the exchanger, and sometimes the joints will just break open. We also look at the safety switches to ensure that they'll switch off at the proper temperature," says Samuel.

The majority of heat exchanger failures result from not keeping the filters and the system clean, Samuel warns. He urges his customers to check the filter on a certain day each month; it usually must be replaced monthly during cold weather.

Annual professional inspections can also lead to solid savings on furnace replacement. If, for example, the heat exchanger has a 20-year warranty, many manufacturers will provide a replacement if it's a premature failure, or offer a credit toward a new furnace if it's within the warranty term.

"When we do the inspection, we also look at the cost of the operation of the equipment, and how energy savings might pay for the cost of replacing it," says Samuel. "If you have a 20-year-old furnace, we can probably reduce your heating bill by 40 to 60 percent with new equipment, depending on the equipment we put in and the local cost of energy."

Many homeowners worry that an HVAC professional will recommend replacing the unit when, in fact, it needs only minor repairs. Samuel admits that this is a concern, but he's prepared to meet it.

"If we find an unsafe appliance due to a leaky heat exchanger or flue, we will discuss various solutions with the homeowner," he says.

"In some companies, all the technicians are trained to do is to sell furnaces," Robinson confirms. "But when you're dealing with Aire Serv, you can rest easy knowing that not only have we weeded out the unqualified and the poor advisers and that our technicians have been qualified by a nationwide organization, but that you are getting a local owner who has a stake in his community.

TIPS TO REMEMBER
Secure an equipment check before the coldest time of the year, so you won't have to wait.

A setback of five degrees at night and 10 degrees during working hours can save you 10 percent off your heating costs.

If you have a condensing furnace, make sure you have an appropriate condensation drain that won't clog or freeze.

Your Aire Serv professional will:

Clean, inspect, and, if necessary, replace:

• Heat exchanger
• Burners
• Flue draft diverter/motor
• Venting system
• Blower assembly
• Air filters
• Safety controls

Measure and monitor:

• Fuel pressure
• Volts/amps
• Thermostat calibration/level
• Air temperatures

Your Aire Serv professional will also tighten wiring connections and lubricate required parts if necessary.

Joseph Dobrian has written on technology, home improvement, and contingency planning issues for Kitchen & Bath Business, The New York Times, The Economist, and many other publications.