Your New Year’s Resolution: Schedule a Heating Maintenance

You know the saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Well, it’s not just true for the body; it also applies to your house, your car, your pets, and even your heating system.

Whether you have a boiler or a furnace, a heat pump or a woodstove, there is no better way to avoid a no-heat emergency in the dead of winter than by regularly servicing your heating equipment. Ideally, it should be done annually. Yet, more often than not, customers with no-heat emergencies haven’t exactly kept up with maintenance. There are a few reasons for this, but lack of user knowledge shouldn’t be one of them. Below, we’ve boiled down the fundamentals of a maintenance service and, more importantly, we explain why it should be one of this year’s resolutions.

A boiler cleaning involves brushing and vacuuming soot and debris from the internal heating components, including the combustion chamber and heat exchanger. This helps avoid soot-ups and dangerous combustion and improves the efficiency of the boiler. Technicians inspect and clean the electrodes and flame sensors, and replace them as needed, confirming the boiler starts and runs smoothly and safely. We also check and adjust the water pressure, any gas connections, and the flue for blockages, and perform a combustion test to ensure that the burn is clean and the corrosive, dangerous flue gases are properly vented.

This isn’t just a quick wipe down of the boiler jacket; it’s a thorough inspection to ensure safety, efficiency, and longevity.

​Oil burners in particular demand yearly service with many parts requiring annual replacement: oil pump strainers, oil filters, and nozzles. While oil tanks are not technically serviceable, they should be included in a routine inspection, with technicians checking for rust spots, active leaks, and drips at fill points and safety valves. Even a pinhole leak can indicate that you’re close to a full-blown, potentially disastrous oil leak, and your tank is in need of replacement.

Annual maintenance on a forced air furnace involves replacing filters to improve airflow and collect any airborne particles, cleaning soot and debris off burners, and checking the burners and heat exchanger for damage or corrosion. Electrodes (ignitor, flame rod, etc.) are inspected and cleaned or replaced as needed, while technicians also check for proper combustion and check that the flue is unobstructed and venting properly.

​While heat pumps do require annual preventative maintenance as well, this is an easier task when outdoor temperatures are warmer. But it’s never too early to schedule this vital service. Maintenance on a heat pump includes replacing or cleaning filters, checking refrigerant levels, cleaning dirt and debris from the evaporator and condenser coils, clearing any blockages in the condensate line, inspecting the electrical connections, and confirming that the defrost setting initiates.

​The lifespan of heating equipment varies greatly depending on the brand, fuel type, and general usage. But the median life expectancy for (most) boilers ranges from 20-30 years (20 years for burners), 18 years for furnaces, 15 years for heat pumps, and 10-12 years for water heaters. Replacing HVAC equipment can be costly and not nearly as fun as buying a car or a family vacation. But you can delay a costly replacement with regular, yearly maintenance.

Make it your goal this New Year to take care of your heating and cooling systems with preventative maintenance appointments and secure the lifespan of your equipment. It’s still not too late to schedule a heating maintenance, and it’s not too early to schedule a cooling one. It just may save you a costly, late-night, middle-of-a-snowstorm service call or a sweltering, heat-wave, no-air-conditioning emergency.