Taking good care of the heating equipment in your Coatesville home is essential for keeping building residents comfortable and protected. When outside temperatures plummet, your home will remain safe and warm. However, in addition to routine maintenance, your heater needs timely repairs. By scheduling plumbing service early on, you can keep minor problems from spiraling out of control, limit your total repair costs, and extend the lifespan of your furnace, heat pump, or boiler. The following are five ways to know when you need help.
1. Your Energy Bills Are Increasing, But Your Home Comfort Is Declining
In many areas, heater use accounts for approximately 50% of the average wintertime heating bill. Thus, if your energy bills are on the rise, the first place to look is your heater. This is especially true if your home feels humid and muggy, has hot and cold spots, or never quite reaches the temperature you want.
2. Your Furnace Smells Bad
Without pre-season maintenance, many forced-air heating systems emit a pungent and burnt or dusty-smelling odor. This smell is often due to trapped dust, hair, and other debris. However, if turning your furnace on creates a faintly sweet, burnt smell, this could mean that there are faulty wires or electrical connections. If the furnace operation makes your home smell downright putrid, there may be a trapped animal in your HVAC ducting.
3. Your Heater Is Getting Noisier
Most heating equipment grows louder as it ages. Forced-air, fuel-combusting heating systems often cause loud banging and popping sounds in HVAC ducting when cycling on. Given the ultra-rapid heating of natural gas furnaces, sudden gusts of hot air through cold ducting cause duct materials to noisily contract.
There are probably several sounds that you’re used to your heater making as it cycles off and on, adjusts its fan motor speed, or cools down. However, if your furnace starts making new noises or if noises are becoming increasingly louder, contact a heating Contractor in Coatesville, PA.
4. Your Indoor Air Quality Is Poor
Dry, itchy eyes, minor skin irritation, nasal congestion, coughing, and sneezing are all common signs of poor indoor air quality (IAQ). In addition to temperature control, central HVAC systems filter indoor air and extract excess moisture. If you have a condensing furnace, your indoor air should never feel heavy, oppressive, and muggy. When air filtration and humidity control features are working correctly, serious problems like mold, mildew, excess dust, dander, or pet hair are unlikely.
If you have persistent IAQ problems, we can clean and tune up your heating equipment to eliminate build-ups of particulate debris and optimize its efficiency. At DiBiase Heating & Cooling, we also offer proactive IAQ improvements. For instance, if necessary, we can recommend integrated IAQ accessories to address recurring or static IAQ concerns.
5. Your Heater Is 20 Years Old or Older
Most heaters experience the majority of their problems within their last several years of service. If your heater has already supplied over two decades of service, you’re virtually guaranteed to need an HVAC contractor in the coming heating seasons. You can sidestep the need for urgent, last-minute heater replacement by planning for this project early on. Advanced planning heater replacement allows homeowners to fully explore their available options, budget, and pursue financing if needed.
There’s never a bad time to schedule heater service when you suspect developing problems. For more info on working with a top heating contractor in Coatesville, PA, contact DiBiase Heating & Cooling today!
