Keeping Your Home Cool during the Sweltering, Summer Months

You Need To Clean Your Furnace

by Anthony Graves

Most homeowners invest in HVAC maintenance only when they are forced to. That is, they just leave their system alone until something happens that actually affects the functionality or efficiency of their heating and cooling. However, there are some easy DIY jobs that homeowners can do during their free time without spending any money at all. This article explains two jobs that you could even do right now. These simple projects can ultimately increase the efficiency of both your heating and cooling operations. Why Your Furnace Needs to be Cleaned

One of the most effective and accessible DIY HVAC maintenance job is to clean your furnace cabinet. The furnace is the central hub of your home heat. There are a lot of technical and complicated parts within the furnace, but just a general cleaning of the entire cabinet will improve its normal operations. So, opening up and cleaning inside your furnace cabinet is going to have some positive impacts, and it is very easy work.

Turning Off the Furnace Power

First of all, you need to turn off your furnace cabinet before you can work inside it. This includes turning off the gas and electricity. Some people are a little scared to work on their furnace because they are so uncomfortable with turning off the gas. However, the task is usually very simple, but it depends on your exact furnace. Every furnace should have shut down instructions mounted directly on the cabinet. If you follow these instructions step-by-step, you won't have any problems. Generally, you need to turn off the gas and then turn off the electricity. It is probably going to be easier than you imagined.

Once you have complete access to the inside of your furnace, you can clean it in a variety of ways. Usually, you'll get the best results if you use a hose vacuum. You should start by trying to remove as much of the dust from all of the surfaces with just the hose vacuum. However, there is bound to be dust and dirt buildup on certain components and surfaces that won't come off with just a vacuum. Using a slightly damp rag, you can wipe down the surfaces if you are careful. You just don't want to mess around with any electric wires or gas lines within the furnace.

As you can see, cleaning your furnace cabinet is not very demanding or difficult work. It is just hard for some homeowners to remember to do the work. For more information, contact a business such as Precision Heating & Cooling.   

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