Checking furnace now avoids chills later

Posted on September 11, 2011 by admin

Fall is the time to get your home ready for the coming winter that can be the most gruelling season for your home. Inspecting on a regular basis and following good maintenance practices are the best ways to protect your investment.

A regular schedule of seasonal maintenance can put a stop to the most common and costly problems, before they occur. If necessary, use a camera to take pictures of anything you might want to share with an expert for advice or to monitor or remind you of a situation later. Most home maintenance activities are seasonal. The following is a check list of some of the key items that should be reviewed each fall:

Have furnace or heating system serviced by a qualified service company every two years for a gas furnace, and every year for an oil furnace.
Open furnace humidifier damper on units with central air conditioning and clean humidifier.
Lubricate circulating pump on hot water heating system.
Bleed air from hot water radiators.
Examine the forced air furnace fan belt for wear, looseness or noise; clean fan blades of any dirt buildup (after disconnecting the electricity to the motor first).
Check and clean or replace furnace air filters each month during the heating season. Filters for ventilation systems, such as a heat recovery ventilator, should be checked every two months.
Vacuum electric baseboard heaters to remove dust.
Remove grilles on forced air systems and vacuum inside the ducts.
If the heat recovery ventilator has been shut off for the summer, clean the filters and the core, and pour water down the condensate drain to test it.
Clean portable humidifier, if one is used.
Have well water tested for quality. It is recommended that you test for bacteria every six months.
Check sump pump and line to ensure proper operation, and to ascertain that there are no line obstructions or visible leaks.
Replace window screens with storm windows.
Remove screens from the inside of casement windows to allow air from the heating system to keep condensation off window glass.
Ensure all doors to the outside shut tightly, and check other doors for ease of use. Renew door weather stripping if required.
If there is a door between your house and garage, check the adjustment of the self-closing device to ensure it closes the door completely.
Ensure windows and skylights close tightly.
Cover outside of air conditioning units.

While most maintenance is seasonal there are some things you should do year round:

Make sure all air vents are clear of snow and debris.
Check and clean range hood filters on a monthly basis.
Test the ground fault circuit interrupter(s) monthly by pushing the test button, which should then cause the reset button to pop up.
If you have children, equip electrical outlets with safety plugs.
Regularly check the house for safety hazards such as lifting or buckling carpet, etc.

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Furnasman

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Faulty furnace sickens four with carbon monoxide poisoning in Fairbanks

Posted on December 24, 2010 by admin

Two adults and two children were hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning after their furnace filled their house with deadly levels of the gas Monday afternoon.

The Steese Area Volunteer Fire Department responded to the home on Winch Road, off the Steese Highway, when another woman who lives there came home and found three occupants unconscious and one in a confused state.

“They were suffering from the effects of carbon monoxide,” said Mitch Flynn, chief of the fire department. “This woman came home at the right time, she smelled the smoke, called 911, woke everybody up, and did the right thing.”

The home did not contain a smoke detector or carbon monoxide detector.

Carbon monoxide levels inside were more than 300 parts per million, Flynn said.

“Fifty will set off a carbon monoxide detector,” he said. “When it gets to 300, that can be lethal in a matter of hours.”

The injuries do not appear serious, according to the Alaska State Troopers.

The elevated levels resulted from a malfunctioning oil-fired furnace that sent extra soot up the chimney and choked it off.

“The chimney had sooted up almost to a close, and was forcing gases into the home,” Flynn said.

Monoxide probably began filling the house Sunday night, he said.

Any combustion appliance — a wood stove, hot water heater, or propane cooking stove — can emit carbon monoxide if not tuned properly, he said.

Chimneys get choked off several times per year in the Fairbanks area, but not typically enough to force gases into the home, he said.

Fire fighters shut off the furnace and ventilated the house of all carbon monoxide.

The house is a rental unit. One of the two children sent to the hospital belonged to the couple. The other belonged to the woman who entered the home and dialed 911.

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Furnasman

http://Furnasman.com/

4 Steps on Cleaning Oil Furnace Motor Sensor for Maintenance

Posted on May 30, 2010 by admin

To ensure that your furnace will continue to heat your home all winter, you need to clean the sensor on your oil furnace motor on a monthly basis. You have to be aware that the sensor is designed to shut down your furnace motor if your stack has become too dirty or if the burner does not ignite. Also, you need to check first your fuel tank if needs to be refilled before taking your sensor assembly apart. Another important thing to keep in mind after cleaning the sensor is to press the reset button on the stack sensor control.

Below are the tools and material you will need in cleaning:

Wrench
Screwdriver
Bucket
Bottle Brush
Dish Soap
Warm Water
Work Gloves
Soft Cloth
Refractory Cement
Newspaper

Step 1 – Remove Stack Control

First, you should turn off the power in the oil furnace motor. For the dirt to be easily collected, place newspaper under the surface you are working. Use wrench or screwdriver to remove the bolts which connects the stack control to the venting chimney. Then, you need to remove the sensor together with the housing from the vent.

Step 2 – Clean Sensor

Scrub the soot from the sensor with the use of a bottle brush and warm soapy water. Be sure that you are able to clean all of the soot from the sensor. Then, dry the control sensor with a soft cloth.

Step 3 – Clean Stack

It’s time to wear your gloves. Remove now the venting stack in sections. While holding the stack over newspaper, hit it firmly on the floor. Repeat it for a couple of times for every section to remove soot as much as possible. After that, reconstruct the venting stack.

Step 4 – Reinstall Stack Control

Put back the sensor and its housing in the vent stack. Also, reattach the bolts to secure the stack control to the vent. To reseal the joint between the stack control and the chimney, use refractory cement.

It’s So Easy, Being Green

Posted on April 5, 2010 by admin

With oil and natural gas prices rocketing, stoking terror of long, cold and and expensive winters, a renewed interest in keeping heating costs under control has has been sparked. Homeowner’s have an ignited passion in understanding energy saving methods. If you’re in this boat, stuck in cold waters, here are some tips for energy saving tricks of the trade.

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