You might not want to think about a cold Minnesota winter just yet, but you definitely don’t want it to sneak up on you while you’re unprepared! Your heating system is the first thing to keep in mind, since it’s the last thing you could live without come January. How can you make sure your furnace is prepared for fall? Follow this handy checklist, and you’ll be all ready when the cold weather hits.
1: Change Your Furnace’s Air Filter
This should absolutely be done before there’s any chance you’ll need to turn your furnace on. You should also be checking it regularly throughout the heating season—once a month would be great—and changing it as necessary, not going more than three months without a change.
2: Check Your Furnace’s Exhaust Vent
You’re probably familiar with the common concern in Minnesota winters of exhaust vents becoming blocked by piles of snow during storms. But other things can block low exhaust vents as well, and there have been months for blockages to occur. Make sure the area around the vent is clear and that autumn leaves or other clutter can’t prevent exhaust from escaping.
3: Check Your Vents or Registers
It’s important that air is able to flow out of your vents—or around your heat registers, if you have a boiler. Move any furniture out of the way, tidy up messes, and wipe down dust.
4: Switch Your Ceiling Fans
During the summer, your ceiling fans should have been set to turn counter-clockwise. This is the best position for drawing air upward to help keep you cool. Because hot air rises, in the fall, you should flip the little switch to make your fans spin clockwise. This will help to push warm air back downward from your ceiling. You don’t really need all the heat accumulating up there, where you probably spend very little time!
5: Seal Drafts
Is there a gap under your front door? Are there cracks in your window frames? Make sure that the warmth you’ll be paying for all winter will stay in your home where it belongs. Use a door strip that attaches to the bottom of your door, or place a door snake against it. Find drafty spots and seal them up with foam or rope-caulk weather stripping.
6: Have Your Furnace Professionally Maintained
When you have furnace maintenance performed, your technician will ensure your safety by inspecting the heat exchanger and ventilation system. They will clean and check all the components and lubricate all moving parts so they glide smoothly together, cutting down on friction and wear and tear. Maintenance improves efficiency, maximizes heating effectiveness, and helps your furnace to live as long a life as possible. Perhaps most importantly, if your technician determines that you need furnace repair in Grand Rapids, MN, you’ll have time to get that done before the temperature drops and you really need your heat.
Reach out to Mesaba Heating & Air Conditioning today. Service to you is success to us!