With winter right around the corner, now is when you want to start thinking about getting your HVAC system ready to keep your home comfortable for the season ahead. Fall HVAC maintenance is essential to keep your heating costs lower and ensure your home stays consistently warm. A professional heating tune-up involves several steps, from inspecting and testing your HVAC system’s components to tightening any loose connections and lubricating moving parts as needed. Another essential task the HVAC technician will always perform is cleaning your heating system’s vital components.
Cleaning the Indoor Air Handler Improves Heating Performance
Whether you use a furnace or a heat pump to heat your home, one crucial maintenance task is ensuring your indoor air handler is clean. The indoor air handler is responsible for circulating warm air into your ductwork and living spaces.
While your HVAC’s air filter helps prevent dust and debris from entering the air handler, some particles still bypass the filter and accumulate on its components. During annual maintenance, a technician will clean the blower motor, fan, and connections to your ductwork. If this grime is not cleaned off at least once a year, it can severely impact heating performance and energy efficiency. Dust buildup restricts airflow, preventing the blower fan from moving enough air to keep your home comfortable. The reduced airflow also means your furnace or heat pump struggles to draw in sufficient air.
The restriction in airflow affects energy efficiency because your system needs to run longer to reach your desired temperature. As your HVAC cycles more frequently or runs for extended periods, it consumes more energy, leading to higher heating costs.
Insufficient airflow can pose an even greater concern for homes with gas furnaces. A gas furnace relies on a heat exchanger, a set of metal tubes that absorb and transfer heat from the burners to the incoming air. As cool air flows over the heat exchanger, it absorbs heat, raising the air temperature to between 120 and 140 degrees before it circulates through your home’s ductwork. If the airflow is blocked, the heat exchanger doesn’t receive enough cooling air, causing it to overheat. This triggers the furnace’s high-temperature limit switch, which automatically shuts the furnace down to prevent damage.
Frequent overheating is disruptive and can also cause long-term issues. When a furnace overheats, the heat exchanger expands more than it should. Over time, excessive expansion and contraction during heating cycles increase the risk of cracks forming in the metal. A cracked heat exchanger is one of the most severe problems a furnace can face. It can allow harmful combustion gases, including carbon monoxide, to escape into the ductwork and circulate through your home. You will need to replace a faulty heat exchanger immediately because it can cause safety issues for your family.
Repairing or replacing a cracked heat exchanger is also expensive, typically costing $1,000 to $2,000 or more. By ensuring your air handler is regularly cleaned, you can protect your family from potential safety hazards and avoid extensive repairs.
How Furnace Cleaning Works and Why It Matters
During a maintenance visit, a professional will clean all the internal parts of your gas furnace. However, the gas burner and flame sensor are the two most vital components they clean.
Over time, dust and debris can accumulate on the burners, clogging the small gas ports. The burners cannot produce a clean, consistent flame when these ports become obstructed. This results in incomplete combustion, where the gas doesn’t fully burn, reducing the amount of heat your furnace can generate.
Another issue is that natural gas combustion produces carbon dioxide and water vapor. When combustion is incomplete due to dirty burners, your furnace may produce more carbon monoxide than it can exhaust effectively. This is one of the reasons why you should have carbon monoxide detectors near the furnace and throughout your home, especially in sleeping areas.
On the other hand, the flame sensor requires attention because it serves as a critical safety feature. It ensures that if the burners fail to ignite or the flame goes out unexpectedly, the gas supply is immediately shut off to prevent unburned gas from filling your home. The sensor detects whether the burner flames are present by using a small electrical charge that reacts with the flames. If the sensor becomes dirty, it may not accurately detect the flame, even if the burners are working correctly.
When the sensor can’t reliably detect a flame, it sends a signal to the furnace’s control board to close the gas valve, stopping the heating process. A partially fouled sensor might still work intermittently, causing the furnace to shut off before it completes a heating cycle, leading to inconsistent warmth throughout your home. In more severe cases, the burners may light for only a few seconds before the sensor shuts off the gas, leading to frequent and rapid cycling where the furnace repeatedly starts and stops. If this issue persists, the system may enter a lockout mode that requires a manual reset before the furnace will run again.
Parts of a Heat Pump that Need Cleaning
When it comes to maintaining a heat pump system, two critical components that require yearly cleaning are the indoor evaporator and outdoor condenser coils. Both coils are essential for efficient heating and, if neglected, can severely impact your system’s performance and energy efficiency.
The outdoor coil is responsible for absorbing heat from the air outside. When this coil becomes coated with grime, it can’t effectively capture heat, especially as outdoor temperatures decrease. This dirt buildup prevents the refrigerant from reaching the proper temperature before it’s pumped inside. As a result, the heat available to warm your home is greatly reduced.
The indoor coil plays the opposite role. It releases the captured heat into your living space. If this coil is dirty, the heat in the refrigerant has difficulty transferring into the air moving across it. This reduces the temperature of the air your HVAC system circulates, causing your home to heat more slowly. In some cases, the system may struggle to provide sufficient heat, leaving your living spaces chilly and uncomfortable.
It’s also essential for homeowners to understand that dirty coils make your heat pump work harder to achieve desired temperatures, leading to higher energy usage and utility costs. The system may run longer than usual or cycle more frequently, shortening its lifespan and potentially leading to costly repairs. Additionally, restricted airflow from dirty coils can cause excess wear on the blower motor and other components.
Contact the Professionals
At Cool Power LLC, we have been serving the residents of Ronkonkoma, NY and the surrounding areas since 1975. We install, maintain, and repair heating and cooling systems. Additionally, we can help with all your indoor air quality needs, including installing a whole-home air purifier or humidity control system. Contact us today to schedule a furnace maintenance appointment with one of our experienced team members.
