I do it myself, and have done so for close to 40 years of owning a home.
How often do you get your furnace/central air checked/tuned?
- Thread starter ZZman
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How comprehensive do you get?
How comprehensive is your tune up?
In my current house, which I'm living in 22+ years I have forced hot air heat. I clean the unit, replace the filter, and oil the motor at the beginning of the heating season. If the belt needs to be replaced I replace it. If the motor goes I'll either have it rebuilt or replace it. No problems to report, and I estimate the unit to be about 45 years old.
Highboy
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If it ain’t broke, I ain’t messing with it. I do change the filter and hose off the ac unit outside when it gets dirty though, which seems to be once a month in the summer.
I take apart the furnace in the early fall, clean the blower, heat exchanger with a brush, flame sensor with a scotch pad, pilot assy with a very thin wire and burners. The A/C gets monthly gentle rinsing of the coils and the drain holes on the bottom pan. I level the outside unit as needed, usually every few years. I don't hang gauges on the manifold. I check the in/out temperatures at the same time at the furnace input (filter) and a couple feet downstream from the evaporator where the is a small hole in the duct for a probe. I do this on an 80 degree day and pronounce the system working good if I have 15-18 degree spread.
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45 years old? Man the efficiency must suck on that. That heat exchanger must weigh a ton and built like a tank.
Oil fired cast iron Steam boiler: Every September, Filter, nozzle and screen replaced. Boiler sections cleaned/vacuumed. Boiler water blown down and Low Water cut-off flushed and tested. Boiler refilled and Rectorseal 8 way added. Oil tank topped up and anti-gel added.
Good for another year.
Good for another year.
100% correct. However at some point I plan on selling the house, and the next owner can install whatever they like to heat the place. Most of our heat is through a wood stove now, which makes the likelihood of me updating the heating system slim to none.
I check it at the beginning of heating season every year.
That’s good advice if you have animals or plants or a dirt yard. A quick cleaning never hurt
I heat with a heat pump,I clean the outside compressor twice each year and the indoor coil every other year. I use my gas logs in my fire place when it gets real cold I have a blower on the logs.
Here is a u-tube from a propane fired condensing boiler. The “condensing” occurs when the coils of the cooler feed water runs through the inside the exhaust flume and sucks heat out of the exhaust in the flume. The exhaust cools, dropping out liquid water that is highly acidic (pH of 2.1) because of the high CO2 content. It goes through the U-tube then down the sewer. A small amount of soot comes out, ( it’s propane, not natural gas). Because the fluid is just a trickle, soot gathers at the entrance and some falls to the bottom of the U tube device. It has to be cleaned once a year or else it will back up, making a mess, also corroding your boiler cabinet. Also included is a photo of the soot that came out after a year of running. I do this myself.
I've got forced air natural gas furnace. Change the filter every 3-4 months. I have a new Honeywell glow fly igniter on hand in case the current igniter goes.
There is a sensor called a flame rod that should be cleaned every 2-3 years with steel wool since it gets a buildup on it and can cause the furnace to act up.
The coils outside usually get hosed down once a year. Had to replace the AC components last year. Coil inside the furnace was all rusty and shot. I'm on my second furnace (been in the House since 2002). They don't make this stuff to last.
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Honeywell Q3200U1004/U Glow Fly Universal Hot Surface Igniter, 120Vac: Amazon.com: Tools & Home Improvement
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There is a sensor called a flame rod that should be cleaned every 2-3 years with steel wool since it gets a buildup on it and can cause the furnace to act up.
The coils outside usually get hosed down once a year. Had to replace the AC components last year. Coil inside the furnace was all rusty and shot. I'm on my second furnace (been in the House since 2002). They don't make this stuff to last.
There is no need to have the furnace and A/C checked for me, I am a printer/maintenance guy for my job. I have all the key failure parts for my 10 year old American Standard/Trane DC drive 2 stage 97% furnace in the basement for that -20 below Sunday morning fail. So far it has only needed an igniter end in 10+ years. I was worried about the furnaces expensive motherboard/DC drive unit so I installed a regular surge protector for the first hit and then in-line after that, an advance surge protector from Surge-X. My 23 year old Carrier 410A A/C unit has only need 1 Freon top off 8 years ago and 2 contactors 1 of those being a change out as preventive maintenance along with a capacitor, since new. Yearly furnace checks are a scam. Bare minimum checks should be every 3rd year for older equipment and every 5+ for newer equipment if you can't do your own work. This of course accompanys 4-5 carbon monoxide alarms per house. I feel I have had good luck with my setup.
South Florida. Every 6 months which is not atypical for many here.
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