It’s been a very cold winter here in the St. Louis area, and our heating systems have been working overtime to keep our homes warm. And although furnaces do a great job during most of the heating season, they can encounter some performance problems when the temperatures get severely low. In order to avoid those issues, today we’re going to talk about five ways you can help your furnace deal with extreme cold weather!
5 ways to help your furnace deal with extreme cold weather
- Keep your air filter clean. When it’s freezing cold outside, your furnace needs all the help it can get in order to keep your home warm. That’s why it’s extremely important to ensure that you have a clean air filter installed during extreme cold weather in order prevent your furnace from working harder than it needs to.
- Hold off on setting back your thermostat. Normally, it’s a great idea to lower your thermostat’s temperature setting during the hours that you’re away from home in order to conserve energy. However, this can cause more trouble than it’s worth when it’s excessively cold outside because it will be harder for your furnace to bring your home back up to your desired at-home temperature. Keep your thermostat set at a consistent setting until the weather warms back up to normal temperatures for this season.
- Be prepared for colder indoor temperatures. Your furnace can only maintain a differential between outdoor and indoor temperatures to a certain degree. During extreme cold weather, some furnaces might not be able to bring a home all the way up to its desired temperature level. Instead of cranking up your thermostat (which won’t help the matter), try wearing warmer clothes and blankets around the house to stay warm.
- Keep vents clear in high efficiency furnaces. The vents that are used in high efficiency furnaces lead outside of your home and are located near ground level. This leaves them vulnerable to getting clogged with ice and snow. When it’s extremely cold out, check to ensure that those vents stay clear so that your system doesn’t develop performance or safety issues.
- Ask a neighbor to check on your house when you’re gone. If your furnace goes out during severely cold weather, it can leave your home more susceptible to other potential problems like frozen pipes. If you’re going to be away from home for a while and you know that we’re expecting colder weather than usual, have a neighbor check to make sure that your heat is working so that you can catch problems before they get worse.
If you have any questions about how to help your furnace deal with extreme cold weather, or if you’d like a heating system serviced or installed in your home, contact Jerry Kelly, your St. Charles heating and air conditioning contractor. We service the St. Louis area, including towns like Wentzville, Winghaven and Ballwin.
