By: Brian Schutt
Do it yourself is big these days. Understandable. We’re all trying to stretch our dollars. While we’re told the recession is officially over, it seems employment is still lagging, and therefore our confidence as consumers and homeowners is pretty low. I say all that to say I’m all for doing things yourself.
However, I’ve also seen many do-it-yourself talks out there that might convince a homeowner that what they’re doing is equivalent to what they’d be paying a qualified heating and air conditioning technician to do. (See do-it-yourself furnace maintenance tips here, here, and here for some idea of what’s out there.) These steps are better than doing nothing, so if you are unable to call a qualified company out, use these sites as guides.
However, for a relatively small charge (in the case of Homesense Heating & Cooling it is $75 for a fall furnace tune-up) you can get your system completely ready for the long winter. The difference between the do-it-yourself method and bringing in a pro, without getting too technical, is that there are parts within the system that should be completely removed, checked, and cleaned as part of the system upkeep. In addition, a trained technician will be able to determine if your system is running at its most efficient performance and make any needed tweaks to ensure this is the case.
Whether you’re in Indianapolis or somewhere else with a bitterly cold winter, we encourage everyone to get their furnace ready for the long days ahead.
