Is it possible to drive your car with a flat tire? Yes. Is that something you want to do? Of course not. Even though the engine is working and the car will physically move, a flat tire severely hinders your ability to get from point A to point B in the time that you would like to arrive at your destination. The same goes for your home’s heating and cooling systems, says Joe Gratta of Atlantic Mechanical in Massachusetts. If you ignore professional suggestions to get your furnace serviced on a regular basis, it still may function, but it won’t be at the rate you would like it to do so.
At least once a year, says Gratta, preferably at the end of the summer before it’s time to turn on your heat for the colder months, you should get your furnace serviced by professional technicians. The biggest reward for keeping up with this maintenance, he says, is that you will significantly increase the furnace’s efficiency. And an efficient furnace directly equates to lower energy bills because the system won’t need to run quite as often, or work as hard to warm up your home. In fact, if your furnace is used consistently for five years without being professionally serviced, then Gratta says that you can expect to have its efficiency rating drop by at least 20%.
Additionally, if your furnace came with a manufacturer’s warrantee then you risk having the warrantee voided if you fail to meet the servicing requirements. Often times, in order to remain protected if something breaks, you will need to show the furnace’s manufacturer proof that you have been changing the filter, getting the parts cleaned, and diagnosing any problems early on. Otherwise, if something does break, the company can easily attribute the problem back to you because you ignored the requirements that state the furnace needs to be taken care of in order to perform optimally.
Hiring professional technicians, like the experienced specialists at Atlantic Mechanical, is an added bonus as well. With everything that needs upkeep in your home, from the lawn to the bathtub, it’s nice sometimes to know that you are doing your part to keep everything running smoothly, without having to do much more than pick up the phone and schedule an appointment. Furthermore, if you’re not someone who enjoys spending an hour in the basement getting your hands dirty, then you can relax in the more comforting parts of your home while the work is done for you.
And, as with most problems, when you catch something early on it is a lot easier and cheaper to fix—just like that flat tire which likely started as a small, fixable hole. Your furnace is the same way. If during your scheduled maintenance, the specialist finds a slight problem with the system, he can address the problem right away, instead of a few months down the road when your furnace breaks and you’re literally left in the cold.
