By AMY RICKER
Great Bend Post
Colder temperatures are forecasted for next week, which means it’s time for your annual furnace check-up. Just like a car, a yearly tune-up increases the chance your home will stay warm inside without needless breakdowns.
Additionally, regularly servicing your furnace helps to ensure efficiency, save costs, extend the life of the unit, keeps your family safe from carbon monoxide, and decreases the risk of failure.
Barry Stalcup of Comfort Pro says some furnace parts wear down quicker than others, which is why the checkup is vital.
"That’s cleaning the furnace, replacing the air filter, checking for carbon monoxide, and a lot of times on the newer furnaces that are called condensing for high-efficiency furnaces, we make sure the traps and waterways are clean since those furnaces make as much water in the winter as the summer,” Stalcup said.
As far as an optimal setting for the furnace to be set at, Stalcup says that’s going to continue to be a debate in the family home.
"You know, we keep ours at 68 and I’ve had customers that keep it at 84. As far as the difference, it’s really amazing but no, as far as the furnace setting, it’s whatever you want and what you can afford as far as gas," he said. "I think most people keep it around that 70-72-degree mark, which is too warm for me, but I have customers that keep it from 64 degrees to 84 degrees."
Stalcup says that by not having your furnace inspected and serviced regularly may void the warranty so you will want to double check your paperwork.