10 Important Points to Remember When Turning On Your Heat

There are many things to remember when turning on your heat for the chilly seasons. As a homeowner or renter, everyone should be aware of some of the more important points, to ensure your safety and achieve the maximum efficiency out of your system.

Here are some of those suggestions:

1. Make sure to clean any reusable electrostatic filters and replace any disposable fiberglass filters BEFORE you turn on your furnace.
2. Be sure to clear any flammable items from the area around the furnace. Also, check for any gas smells in the furnace area. If you do, contact your gas company IMMEDIATELY to prevent any possibility of there being a fire in your home.
3. Clean your humidifier and check to see if the air damper is set in the open position. If not, open it, because the humidifier will keep your home from becoming dry and muggy while the heat is running.
4. Turn on the water for the humidifier to ensure that it is working.
5. Set the humidifier to the proper humidity level for the chilly season. The ideal relative humidity for health and comfort is between 35% and 40% to avoid condensation on the windows.
6. You should replace or clean your media pad to ensure maximum air flow from your blower motor.
7. For High-Efficiency Furnaces with stackable vents, make sure to check if the condensate pump is plugged in and working properly.
8. Also, on High-Efficiency Furnaces, shut all higher supply vents and open lower vents. This is important to remember, because heat rises and will not reach the lower areas of the rooms in your home if it is blowing through the supply vents closer to the ceiling.
9. For older furnaces, check and replace the fan belt in the blower section of the furnace if necessary.
10. In some older electric blower motors, you may need to check the oil level in the motor. Fill as needed to ensure your motor works properly through the full season.

Safety and air quality are important when it comes to heating your home, so you always want to make sure you are maintaining your system as well as you can. If you take these few steps before turning on your heating system for the winter, then you’ll be sure the get the highest quality of warmth from your heater all season long!