Furnace Maintenance & How to Hire Quality Company

Homeowner Tips for Furnace Maintenance

(Omaha / Bellevue, NEBRASKA) —  To prevent furnace heating problems caused by neglect, our Omaha / Bellevue Nebraska heating & cooling company recommends homeowners schedule annual furnace maintenance tune-ups. Be advised. Not all contractors are the same. It’s important for homeowners to ask the right questions, when choosing a local HVAC contractor for seasonal checkups.

Why should I perform preventive maintenance?

Your furnace works incredibly hard to generate heat to your household. The system requires proper care and maintenance to not only maximize its life-span & minimize utility costs, but to prevent failures, and detect safety risks. 

Scrutinize Ads Offering Cheap HVAC Checkups
Preventative maintenance by an industry-certified Nebraska HVAC contractor can uncover rust, invisible cracks, leaks, soot, frayed wires and corroded connections. Homeowner tip. Not all furnace check ups are equal. Homeowners may want to ask key questions before responding to an advertisement offering low-priced furnace maintenance. Some tune-ups fall short, and fail to comply with industry-recognized standard residential furnace maintenance practices. 

Make Sure Furnace Tech Uses Combustion Analyzer
Make sure the HVAC technician uses a combustion analyzer, a pricey instrument which calculates furnace efficiency by measuring gasses in the exhaust flue. The portable tool calculates combustion efficiency, flue temps, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and trace levels of harmful gases like carbon monoxide (odorless, colorless, tasteless gas) that a standard CO detector is not built to detect. image combustion analyser

For instance. Visual inspections alone may not detect problematic pinhole leaks or small corrosion-caused cracks with the heat exchanger, a common source of carbon monoxide poisoning. A combustion analyzer does.

Verify HVAC Meets State / City Requirements
Before you hire a local heating company, look for a certified, bonded, insured, and Nebraska-registered HVAC contractor. If you are unaware, “Nebraska does not have a specific contracting license required for HVAC work” according to HVACSchool.org, but all building contractors must obtain a general state contracting license via the Nebraska Department of Labor.

Check City Website to Validate HVAC Contractor License
Municipalities, however, have specific licensing requirements for heating and air conditioning techs & contractors. The info is typically available to consumers online at your city’s official website.
In Omaha, go here to run a license
search.  Search Nebraska Dept of Labor

The furnace technician should be running a series of tasks during the appointment:

– Clean blower compartment
– Clean & adjust burners
– Run Combustion Analyzer
– Inspect and tighten wiring & connections
– Inspect heat exchanger
– Inspect gas pressure & flame
– Check igniter or pilot light (older furnaces)
– Inspect airflow connections
– Test Thermostat
– Check air filter, replace if necessary

Homeowner Tasks to Keep Furnace / Air Quality Comfy
In addition to scheduling annual furnace check ups with a qualified HVAC contractor, be sure to do your part:
– Replace filters once a month
– Vacuum floor registers which collect dirt, dust, pet hair and other household stuff
– Test CO alarm batteries icon 24-hour-furnace-repair-omaha-bellevue

Preventative maintenance can keep your furnace running right all winter. However. Should problems arise, don’t despair. Snell Heating and AC offers 24-hour furnace repairs in Omaha, Bellevue, Papillion, La Vista, Waterloo, Offutt Air Force Base, Ashland, and Gretna, Nebraska.

Call us at 402-332-3531

Service to the Highest Degree is our slogan. We mean it. Since 1998, Snell Heating and AC has provided residential / commercial furnace repair, maintenance, installation and replacement services. We recommend homeowners schedule twice-per-year checkups of your residential heating and cooling system.
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Research / Copy courtesy of Susan Stern

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