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Furnace Cleaning - Crucial to your Heating System Operation

Annual furnace cleaning can identify issues before they become costly and frustrating

Whether it be a residential or commercial furnace, routine maintenance is key to both lowering heating related utility bills and preventing unexpected and stressful breakdowns. If you recently purchased your home or have taken over maintenance of the property a great place to start is by scheduling a furnace cleaning

Furnace burner cleaning
A clean burner optimized for perfect combustion

What a service call for a furnace cleaning can achieve is not only optimization of combustion and checking of critical components for safety, potentially identifying issues that are both dangerous and expensive to repair if left alone.  On top of all this, the furnace and most importantly the burners are cleaned to prepare for another year of operation.  We will also inspect your filter and replace, clean or make recommendations as they apply to your furnace specifically.  Having your furnace and filter routinely cleaned and inspected can be helpful to improve indoor air quality and lower COVID exposure risk.  Currently we offer furnace cleaning separate from duct cleaning and this is rare for most red seal certified HVAC service providers in the Calgary area (many un-qualified companies offer this) though we are happy to recommend duct cleaning service providers for our customers.

Sometimes property owners don’t know where to start when contacting a heating company about their furnace.  Typically, an inspection alone does not stretch your hard-earned money far enough, this is why requesting a furnace cleaning can be beneficial to your savings account and give reliable heating for the colder months.  If you are hearing excessive noise or the air flow from your vents or heating registers seems weak, often the place to start is with an annual furnace cleaning to identify problems and get your system back on track.  Simply reaching out for inspection or a service call will not give the same value as a furnace cleaning.  We encourage you to only use qualified and red seal certified heating contractors to avoid future problems though and like us, they have reached a level of success that they are driven by customer satisfaction and the highest quality work, over profits.

Here are some home heating tips we recommend to our customers:

Filter inspections

We encourage our customers to routinely inspect their air filters and furnace housing for any signs of deterioration, corrosion and access panel misalignment but when it comes to opening the access panel to see where a whining or grinding noise is coming from, please contact us as soon as possible.  The lifespan on some filters, with heavy winter operation can be as little as one to three months so be sure to check the manufacturer specifications to get the best performance.

Setting Programmable Thermostat
Furnace filter cleaning

Setting the thermostat

Many furnaces are now equipped with auxiliary or smart thermostats that can be set to save you money and reduce emissions.  Often, manuals can be found online or are supplied by the previous property owner or manager.  We recommend our clients become familiar with the operation manual for their thermostat and if necessary, we can provide fine tuning during a furnace cleaning call. 

Humidifier operation

With some of the driest winter days in all of Canada, many residential and commercial properties in the Calgary area have the most advanced and often integrated humidification systems available.  Learning about your system is important to know the settings for the warmer and cooler months and also to prevent premature failure.  Properties kept in favourable humidity ranges also keep building materials in good condition and prevent dry skin!

Air leakage through windows, doors and wall plugs

Finally, particularly for older homes with less emphasis on building performance, we recommend that as seasons change a quick assessment for air leakage is completed.   This can mean sealing windows with poly sheeting/tape, using extra weather-stripping around doors and also insulating wall plug covers with foam inserts (available at most hardware stores).  This will take strain off your home heating system and further reduce utility bills. 

Property owners in Calgary are seeking economical, qualified, reliable and honest HVAC service. JDC Mechanical is not only red seal certified we also have over 25 years of experience to handle all of your furnace cleaning and service needs.