The Seattle weather’s turning cold and you know what that means—it’s time to call for your annual pre-winter furnace inspection . Having your furnace checked and cleaned every year by an HVAC professional is a must if you want to guard against any midwinter breakdowns. You may be wondering, however, just what a furnace inspection entails. How essential is it? These are some of the tasks that happen during a typical furnace inspection:

Check the Wiring

If your furnace’s wiring needs to be replaced, it’s better to know that before the winter, when you’ll probably be running it regularly. An inspector can check all the wiring in your furnace and replace any of it that has become corroded or worn-out. This isn’t just important to keep your furnace running—it can also help to prevent fires.

Inspect the Vents

Without clear vents, your furnace won’t be able to keep your home comfortable when the temperature falls. In addition to making sure that there are no blocks or leaks inside your vents, an inspector can clean them out to help ensure that your indoor air stays clean and fresh. Your grills and louvers will also be checked during the inspection.

Check the Heat Exchanger

The heat exchanger is perhaps the single most important component of your heating system—after all, it’s where the air that circulates through your furnace is heated. An inspector will examine your heat exchanger to make sure that it is still in good condition, and that it hasn’t become rusted or corroded over time.

Inspect the Drainage System

Your furnace also needs a working drainage system to continue to provide you with great service. When an HVAC professional looks at your drainage system, he or she will check all the hoses, clean out the condensate drain, and replace the water in the trap.

One of the most important steps you can take to keep your HVAC system running smoothly is to have your furnace checked before the weather starts to get cold. A pre-winter furnace tune-up can help to ensure that your Seattle home stays warm and comfortable even when the temperature outside plummets. You may be wondering, though, whether this yearly investment is strictly necessary. Here are some of the advantages of having a pre-winter maintenance check for your home heating system:

You’ll need fewer repairs.

Getting a tune-up greatly reduces the chances that you’ll need to call for emergency repair for your furnace during the long winter months. Maintenance means that you’ll be able to identify and fix small issues before they have a chance to develop into larger problems. Nobody wants to end up paying for a repair that could have been avoided with a simple tune-up, so schedule the tune-up and you can avoid this issue.

You’ll avoid potential hazards.

A furnace with a problem won’t just make your home uncomfortable—it can also be dangerous. If there is a gas leak, it could put everybody in your household in jeopardy. Having your heating system checked over by a professional before the season of heavy use will help to ensure that you can use it safely.

You’ll extend the life of your furnace.

The more frequently you have your furnace checked for small problems, the less likely it is that these problems will add up to a breakdown. Annual system tune-ups help to extend the life of your furnace, sparing you the expense of a replacement.

You’ll keep your heating costs down.

The less efficiently your furnace is working, the more energy you’ll have to expend in order to keep your house warm. Investing in yearly maintenance will help to keep every component of your furnace working at top capacity, allowing you to stay comfortable without breaking your budget.

Having a fireplace insert allows you to enjoy all of the benefits of a traditional fireplace without the expense, inefficiency, and hassle associated with them. If you don’t find yourself making much use of your fireplace—whether because of its condition or because it wastes too much energy—then a fireplace insert may be ideal for your home. You may be wondering, however, how easy it will be to use a fireplace insert regularly. The good news is that fireplace inserts are easy and intuitive to use. All you need to do is switch the insert on in order to have a fire in your fireplace whenever you want one.

If you want to be able to use your fireplace insert safely, it’s essential to make sure that it is installed correctly. Professional fireplace insert installation will allow you to enjoy your insert as often as you want in your Seattle home.

If you want to boost the heating power of your heat pump or furnace, you may want to consider installing a fireplace insert. In this video from This Old House, you will take a look at how the professionals install fireplace inserts. After the original fireplace has been prepared, your technicians will carefully run a vent pipe through the damper. A company that repairs your heat pump near Seattle can also assist you with a fireplace insert installation.

If you have questions about whether a fireplace insert will work for your home, be sure to consult a team of experienced HVAC technicians. Your professional contractors can evaluate your current fireplace and determine whether an insert can be safely installed.

You know you can count on your air conditioner serving Seattle when you want to cool your room down, but you might not know exactly what’s going on inside the machine. You don’t need to be an HVAC professional to understand the inner workings of your heating and cooling appliances, and this knowledge can help you maintain your units. Check out this video for an inside look at how air conditioners work.

Inside your air conditioner, there is a compressor and cooling tubes. Freon, which is a gas in the system, will become compressed and run through the cooling tubes. The compressed gas turns into a liquid and runs through an expansion valve, and then the liquid evaporates. At this point it becomes a cold gas and cools down the air surrounding the tube coils. A fan then blows this conditioned air into the room to keep your space nice and cool.

A home furnace in Seattle can hold up for a long time, but you’ll need to maintain it if you want it to last. You can work together with your professional furnace service to ensure that your unit gets the care it needs to continue operating efficiently. Take a look at this video clip and get the most out of your home’s furnace.

Your home’s furnace needs maintenance, but the good news is that you typically only need to have it serviced once per year. The maintenance that you can do at home is simple and straightforward. Make sure the furnace’s air filter is clean and facing the right way; if it is clogged with debris, take the time to clean it off or replace it. Your heating and air conditioning pro can also check your furnace’s safety sensors and mechanisms as well as run a combustion efficiency test.

One of the most important parts of maintaining a furnace is changing your air filter regularly. The right air filter not only protects your heat pump or other furnace parts, but it can also improve your indoor air quality. Regular filter changing can also reduce your need for furnace service in Seattle .

Watch this video for advice on picking the right filter for your furnace. After you find the size of the filter you need, look for one that has a pleated surface area that traps the maximum amount of dust and other contaminants. The best filters have both pleated surfaces and a small, grate-like covering over the pleats that contains an electro-magnetic charge to attract more contaminants. As a general rule, if you can see through a filter, don’t buy it, because it won’t effectively protect your air or your furnace.

Home furnaces are essential for keeping your home cozy and protecting it from damage caused by cold temperatures. With minimal furnace service, including regularly scheduled maintenance and furnace repair in Seattle , your unit can last for years without the need for replacement.

When most people think about their home furnaces, they think about the warmth they provide on cold, damp days and the comfort of coming home to a cozy house after being out in the elements. Although these benefits are certainly good, furnaces have a more practical appeal as well. As they are warming your home, they are also warming your pipes, so that they are less likely to freeze and burst, causing expensive water damage.

If you haven’t had your furnace serviced recently, consider scheduling an appointment for maintenance to ensure it is in top condition as winter approaches. Your furnace service tech can also offer advice on maintaining your furnace between appointments, such as changing your air filter regularly.

If you’d like to rely less on your HVAC, heat pump, or boiler this winter, then consider taking advantage of a fireplace insert near Seattle . If your home already features a masonry fireplace, then there are several ways in which you could benefit from having an insert installed.

Ease of Use

Fireplace inserts can be fueled by either electricity, gas, or wood. Gas and electric are ready to go at the flip of the switch, and there’s also no need to worry about making sure the fire is out before you head to bed or leave the house for the day. Also, wood-burning fireplace inserts enjoy less maintenance and repairs than traditional fireplaces.

Improved Fireplace Appearance

With the number of insert designs and installation options available, there are countless ways in which getting a fireplace insert can update the appearance of your home. The insert itself can make your masonry fireplace appear cleaner and more modern. Also, if you choose to upgrade the outer hearth, then there is a wealth of design options to choose from that can be used to match your fireplace with your interior design. As an added benefit, many types of fireplace inserts are easy to install, meaning that you shouldn’t anticipate a drawn-out or messy home remodeling project when you select this kind of upgrade.

Increased Energy-Efficiency

Because of their design, fireplace inserts can benefit homeowners by reducing the amount of heat lost from fireplace use. Also, they can make your masonry fireplace better insulated as well, preventing heat gain or loss throughout the year.

More Effective Heating

Due to their high level of energy-efficiency, fireplace inserts can prove to be a cost-saving measure for many homes. Wood-burning fireplace inserts, for example, can generate far more heat for your house from one load of wood than a traditional fireplace can. If you’re looking for ways to reduce your utility bills this fall and winter, then a fireplace insert could be the answer that you need.