Commercial Furnace Maintenance Pointers to Get Your Ready for the Heating Season

With the approach of fall, it’s time to plan commercial furnace maintenance to ensure your facility’s heating system is ready for the demands that will be placed on it this winter. The following pointers can help you decide what needs to be done, what you can do, and what you should contact your HVAC professional to do.

Benefits of Commercial Furnace Maintenance

The biggest benefit you’ll see from commercial furnace maintenance is a heating system that runs when you need it and keeps your facility warm even during the coldest days of the season. You can also expect benefits such as:

• Improved system efficiency, which means it will make better use of the fuel or electricity it requires to produce heat, wasting less energy.
• Reduced cost of heating, which is a natural result from improved system efficiency. When the furnace uses fuel or electricity properly, you’ll get better performance for less money.
• Better overall performance, which helps your commercial furnace work better, producing even and consistent amounts of heat. You can be confident that when you reach for the thermostat, the equipment will work when you need it.

Furnace Maintenance You Can Do

There are a few non-technical maintenance tasks that you or your employees could easily do. If you do these ahead of time, you’ll save your professional time and effort that can be better expended on more complex maintenance issues.

Change air filters: The air filters help remove airborne particles from your indoor air. When the filter fills up with these particles, however, the airflow within the system is compromised. Clogged and dirty filters can lead to furnace malfunctions and breakdowns. In general, check the filters monthly and change them when they get dirty.

Clean the system: You can conduct a cleaning of furnace components, such as blower motors and fans, supply vents, return registers, and other easily-accessed parts.

Professional Aspects of Commercial Furnace Maintenance

You should contact your local HVAC professional to perform the following commercial furnace maintenance tasks. These checks and adjustments require technical expertise and knowledge of how heating systems work. The safe and effective operation of your heating system can depend on properly performed maintenance.

• Check, test, and calibrate thermostat and system controls: These checks will ensure the thermostat receives accurate readings of indoor temperatures and, in turn, causes your furnace to turn off and on at the right time. Any other controls should also be checked and adjusted as needed to ensure proper system operation.
• Clean combustion chamber: In fuel-using furnaces, soot and combustion by-products can accumulate in the combustion chamber where the fuel is burned to create heat. Cleaning this chamber improves efficiency and reduces the possibility of fires.
• Inspect flue pipe: Check flue pipes and vent pipes to make sure the exhaust from the furnace is being vented to the outdoors. This will prevent potentially deadly exhaust gases such as carbon monoxide from escaping into your indoor environment.
• Adjust and test burners: Make sure the burners are working at the proper level and that they are not clogged or blocked in anyway way. Proper burner flame is important to furnace efficiency and performance.
• Inspect and tighten wiring and electrical connections: Wiring must be free from damage and electrical connections must be tight and clean for proper furnace function.
• Check heat exchanger: Cracked or damaged heat exchangers can create an extremely dangerous situation from carbon monoxide leaks. They should be checked for damage during commercial furnace maintenance.
• Test for carbon monoxide: Your HVAC pro should test the system for any carbon monoxide leaks or other dangerous conditions. If leaks are detected, he can tell you what needs to be done.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about Plumbing, HVACR, Fire Protection, and Alarm Systems in Mechanical, Commercial, and Residential settings. For more information on the importance of commercial furnace maintenance, or to view projects we’ve worked on, visit our website!