Best Furnace Maintenance in Orange County, CA – Why, What You Can Do & What the Professionals Should Do
8 Critical Reasons to Regularly Perform Furnace Maintenance
7 Furnace Maintenance Tasks You Should do Yourself
18 Furnace Maintenance Checks the Best Orange County Professionals Should do for You
Preventative Furnace Maintenance – Sensible or Scam?
If you’re a homeowner, chances are you’re bombarded with advertisements, coupons and phone calls offering you deals and contracts on service and inspections of your home’s central heating and cooling equipment.
8 Critical Reasons to Perform Furnace Maintenance – Inefficient Operation = Higher Utility Bills, Costly Repairs/Replacement, Excessive Noise/Grouchy Neighbors (yes we receive these calls), Rust or Moisture Buildup (in equipment or in attic, ducting, etc), Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, Allergies/Health Issues Due to Poor Air Quality, Gas Leaks/Explosions and Fires
No doubt when is comes to furnace maintenance you’ve questioned whether it’s prudent or simply a ploy to charge you for idle time and invent unnecessary repairs.
Yup – it’s a scary thing, especially since most of us don’t know the first thing about our HVAC furnace or air conditioner.
So – let’s assume you’ve done your homework, Googled, Yelped, referred, researched and you’ve chosen a reputable HVAC contractor. Someone you hope may be the best furnace maintenance contractor in Orange County, CA.
AC Cool (949) 720-3938 licensed, and certified locally owned. Operated in Orange County for 26 years.
We focus on the very real risks associated with operating a faulty or a poorly maintained residential furnace and HVAC systems.
8 Critical Reasons to Perform Furnace Maintenance
- Inefficient Operation = Higher Utility Bills
- Costly Repairs/Replacement
- Excessive Noise/Grouchy Neighbors (yes we receive these calls)
- Rust or Moisture Buildup (in equipment or in attic, ducting, etc)
- Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
- Allergies/Health Issues Due to Poor Air Quality
- Gas Leaks/Explosions
- Fires
Does Age Matter?
Nope. In this case, age truly is just a number and systems of all ages require consistent care. Heaters that are only a few years old are still susceptible to the heat exchanger or firebox cracking or rupturing.
Badly ruptured firebox on a 5-6 year old heater. Fortunately the occupants were unable to light to pilot and called AC Cool – Furnace Maintenance
Constant temperature changes cause expansion and contraction which can weaken the metal during normal use. Discovering those conditions early can save you something far more valuable than money!
In areas or homes with excessive dust (IE near agricultural or construction zones) or pet hair (we’ve seen some filters covered with more hair than Chewbacca!), clogged filters have also been known to cripple even the most robust of modern furnace models.
The other end of the spectrum is outdated furnaces, wall heaters and floor heaters that seem to have valiantly survived decades beyond their life expectancy.
"But it works great!" is something we commonly hear from the proud owners of these rusty, dusty dinosaurs. Meanwhile they present several very real dangers such as flame rollout, carbon monoxide emissions and potential fire hazards.
When it’s time to Replace! See this Old 70’s Era Furnace That Had Lived Past it’s Prime
Scare tactics? No – Statistics!
Although cooking is the #1 cause of house fires (which comes as no surprise if you’ve ever been to my house for dinner), an estimated 14% of nearly 60,000 US house fires per year report furnaces and heaters as the culprits. The number of deaths and injuries involving carbon monoxide poisoning are unsettlingly high as well.
How Can We Help?
Repair, service and maintain! Our Orange County based AC Cool technicians run dozens of repair calls every day, and far too often they find that something as simple as dirty filters, restricted air vents or debris buildup on HVAC equipment has caused system failures. In far less common but more extreme cases, our routine maintenance calls have allowed us to alert our customers to damaged or asbestos ducting, gas leaks and ruptured fireboxes which could potentially lead to compromised health or a devastating fire. How Can YOU Help?
7 Furnace Maintenance Tasks You Should Do Yourself
- Change your filters regularly
- Install smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
- Keep the area around your furnace and vent pipes clear
- Never store combustible materials (paint, solvents, gasoline paper, etc) near your furnace
- Don’t block or close more than 20% of the registers/vents in your home
- Don’t ignore problems or put off repairs
- Schedule annual service and safety inspections with a LICENSED, EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONAL HVAC CONTRACTOR like AC COOL! (had to sneak in 1 more teensy little plug)
What is The Cold Truth About this Hot Topic?
Will regular maintenance identify every possible problem or prevent all failures and potential hazards? Of course, not. No more than regular oil changes will keep your car from ever breaking down. But when you weigh the advantages of protecting your family along with the largest investment most people will ever make, suddenly a few bucks a year for a maintenance call doesn’t seem so scary after all!
18 Furnace Maintenance Checks the Best Orange County Professionals Should Do for You
- Cleaning and lighting the pilot
- Testing pilot safety
- Testing flame sensor
- Testing system voltage
- Checking and oiling fan motor
- Checking blower and fan belt
- Testing fan operation
- Testing temp limit control operation
- Testing gas valve operation
- Checking burner adjustment
- Checking thermostat operation
- Clean and/or replace standard 1” filters
- Testing for carbon monoxide gas
- Inspecting firebox for cracks
- Checking electrical connections
- Checking combustion chamber seals
- Testing flue for proper venting
- Visual inspection of accessible ductwork
AC Cool’s 18-point SAFETY inspection and maintenance includes all of the above. Call AC Cool at ((949) 720-3938 for the best furnace maintenance in Orange County, CA.
Back to Posts
