SOLON — Fall in Iowa means temperatures start to drop with winter looming large on the horizon. It also means furnaces will be turned on for the first time in several months. If all goes well, the unique smell of burning dust will be followed by warm air filling your home. However, without a thorough check-up and possible maintenance, you might be on the receiving end of cold air, or nothing at all.
Tom Rutkowski, General Manager for E&J Electric, Inc. and E&J Geothermal, Inc. in Solon offers the following advice for homeowners to avoid a nasty surprise.
Things a homeowner should do
“The biggest thing, check your filter. Most furnaces are going to have just a large, pleated filter. Try to stay with something in a MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) rating of seven or eight.” MERV is a measurement of particles in the air, and how well your furnace’s filter can capture them. Ratings go from 1-20 with the highest numbers essentially meaning virtually nothing will pass through. Air particles include pollen dust mites, textile and carpet fibers, mold spores, dust, pet dander, bacteria, and even molecules from tobacco smoke. As a point of reference, higher MERV ratings are typically found in hospitals and healthcare settings.
“Anything above 11 and you’re starting to get like a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air filter) filter,” he said. HEPA filters and masks were in the spotlight during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, in a furnace, HEPA filters can actually have the same effect as a dirty filter, making the furnace work harder to draw in enough air to distribute throughout your home cutting its efficiency and making it more expensive to operate. “The seven or eight range is pretty safe for most applications,” he added emphasizing the importance of starting the season with a clean filter.”
If your thermostat is battery powered, “Change them out, make sure you have fresh batteries in that thing before winter.”
A vital and potentially life saving task is to go outside and look at your furnace vent. “If it goes up through the roof, make sure it isn’t blocked with a bird’s nest. If it comes out through a side wall follow the PVC pipes, make sure there isn’t any damage or mice nests, anything that could be blocking it.” A blocked vent can make your furnace work harder (less efficiently) and cause it to fail prematurely. In addition, a blocked vent can decrease the air quality in your home triggering allergies, respiratory issues, and other health problems. More dangerous is the fire risk posed by heat buildup in the ductwork. Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is also a risk as blockage can lead to incomplete combustion, allowing CO levels to increase. Having a working CO detector is important, which includes fresh batteries.
When it is time to call in a professional
A trained and experienced technician should be called in to clean the flame sensor, checking the ignitor, cleaning the burners, and checking the gas pressure. “That’s a really big one,” said Rutkowski. “Especially if you’re on LP because if that pressure is off you can have problems with how the furnace burns.” The technician will also brush out the heat exchanger and clean out the burner compartment. “They will also check the amp draw on the blower motor (making sure it is getting the right amount of electrical current for efficient operation) and inducer motor, cleaning out any of the pressure switch tubing, and going through all of the safety components as well and making sure the unit is operating correctly.”
He encourages homeowners to have this done now, “And not when its minus-20 outside. Going through those items will set you up for success and should be done annually.”
When should you consider replacing Old Reliable?
“The old adage that ‘they don’t make them like they used to’ is a true thing,” said Rutkowski. “When you get older furnaces, 20-plus years, some of those are just tanks. You’ll have to do some maintenance, we might have to put some parts in them, but a lot of those will run for a very long time.”
When you look at more higher-efficient models, “there’s a lot more going on. That’s just a fact. And now they’re looking at about a 10-15-year lifespan. That’s why they put a ten-year warranty on a lot of them. Because its got combustion, and because they’re operating at a higher temperature, that 10-15-year range is pretty typical. If you’re in that range, it’s probably time to at least start to put a plan together.”
Rutkowski recommends making a plan for replacement, and financing, b e f o r e your furnace gives up the ghost. “Then you’re not scrambling trying to figure out what you can do to get heat because once you’re out of heat and if it’s really cold, you’re not going to care, you’re going to want the first thing that gets in there to get your heat back on. And you’re not going to be making as informed of a decision. Its going to be a ‘need’ vs. a well-thought out plan.” If your furnace is older than 12-15 years, he encourages you to start looking at options now. “The reality is there is stuff that is more efficient, more comfortable, and…it’s time.”
Of water heaters and air conditioners
On a related note, the prognosis is worse for water heat- ers, with about a ten-year lifespan; less depending on water quality. Rutkowski noted where the water is particularly hard, the tank itself may be completely rotted out, but there is enough lime build-up for it to keep holding water.
“Ten years is the rule-of-thumb for a water heater.” If it is time for a replacement, Rutkowski recommends an electric heat pump water heater. “The don’t rely on just the two elements like a normal water heater. There’s a small compressor on top and it is extremely efficient and in most households, it’s plenty of hot water. It’s worth looking at, and another option. Its all about presenting the options so that the homeowner can make an informed decision about what’s best for them.”
When fall arrives some people put covers over their central air conditioning units. Rutkowski, however, is not one of them. “I’m not a fan as they can become a mouse hotel. And keep in mind, with a lot of these AC units, if you don’t kill the power to it some of them have little crankcase heaters inside them that puts out just enough heat that mice really like going there.” Depending on where your AC is situated, underneath a roof overhang, for example, he said it might be a bad idea to put something on top of it to protect it from falling ice such as a thick piece of plywood (held in place with bungee cords). “That would do you a lot of good against physical damage.” He warned that if you do kill the power to your AC unit, next spring or if there’s a late heat wave, it would be best to put the power back on for a day or so before starting up the AC again in order to give the refrigerant inside a chance to migrate back lest you put a great strain on the unit with a sudden start.
To schedule an appointment
Call 319-624-2065 and ask for the Service Department.