In this video, This Old House plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey teaches host Kevin O’Connor about furnaces and why it’s important to maintain them properly.
SUBSCRIBE to This Old House: http://bit.ly/SubscribeThisOldHouse.
Kevin O’Connor gets a primer on furnace maintenance from plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey. Richard first explains to Kevin how a furnace works before explaining the different checkpoints that an HVAC technician would use to check the furnace. After that, Richard shows Kevin the dangerous conditions that can exist if the furnace isn’t serviced by a professional at least once a year.
Where to find it?
Richard emphasizes the importance of a yearly service call for furnaces and AC units and what to expect from technicians when they come.
Richard explains that a proper technician would check all the regular safety devices to make sure they work. That would at least include:
Safety device check – Richard explains what’s on the furnace and how to check them.
Next, Richard explains that they will do a combustion test with a combustion analyzer – this test measures how much fuel is going in and what are the emissions going out. It measures for temperature, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. This test is important because defective furnaces could literally kill you, either through carbon monoxide or through an explosion, and should be tested once a year.
Richard also points out that the air filters should be checked and replaced if necessary. This step should actually happen twice a year, so homeowners should be doing it six months after the service call on their own.
Richard tells Kevin that the last thing a technician should check is the AC coil. They’re just
looking to make sure it’s clean. If the filters are not getting changed regularly, some of that dirt and hair can end up on those little fine coils and prevent the air conditioning from working correctly.
Looking for more step by step guidance on how to complete projects around the house? Join This Old House Insider to stream over 1,000 episodes commercial-free: https://bit.ly/2GPiYbH
Plus, download our FREE app for full-episode streaming to your connected TV, phone or tablet: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/pages/streaming-app
About Ask This Old House TV:
From the makers of This Old House, America’s first and most trusted home improvement show, Ask This Old House answers the steady stream of home improvement questions asked by viewers across the United States. Covering topics from landscaping to electrical to HVAC and plumbing to painting and more. Ask This Old House features the experts from This Old House, including general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, landscape contractor Jenn Nawada, master carpenter Norm Abram, and host Kevin O’Connor. ASK This Old House helps you protect and preserve your greatest investment—your home.
Follow This Old House:
Facebook: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseFB
Twitter: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseTwitter
Pinterest: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHousePinterest
Instagram: http://bit.ly/ThisOldHouseIG
Why is Furnace Maintenance Important? | Ask This Old House
https://www.youtube.com/user/thisoldhouse/
30 Comments
E
OMG! Gas and oil furnaces………
Pretty great
I had my furnace clean this year.But have you ever heard of a person drilling your a screw in your furnace? Well! This person from the heating company did on my furnace and I am now very scare that my furnace my 💣 explode or made leak carbonate.Can anyone that is an expert text me back on this to easy my mind? I have No! Email.And the frist Co.i had here told me that it was my mother board when it was just my thermostat cause I had one of those program thermostat and I didn't know how to set it so I was getting heat I just want someone to clean my furnace and give me a honeywell thermostat the round one. So then I call this other heating company which this man drill a hole into a screw and told me that my furnace was broken! But it wasnot cause I was getting heat and the green light on my furnace was working just fine.this person just like the frist one just wanted to make $$$ money off of me and I refuse to let them .So people beware of people that try to scam you! Wish my dad was still Alive cause he was a electrician and he would have look at my furnace and if anything was wrong he would have fix it! And I would have help him.Oh! The first Co.was four seasons that guy told me it was the Mother board and when I call the next heating co which was King heating co.i had ask him if it was my Mother board just to see what he would say and he told me NO! And then started talking about I am not here to give you a sale pitch and that when my Red flag went up! I will never trust or let these two Co.back in my house.They are a rip Off! And trying to get $$ money for the Co.the work for and my be theyget a big pay for doing this.
Phew wish i knew this months ago. Just bought the house & wanted the 7 yo furnace checked. Called a furnace company & their guy never went through the furnace like this. He kept saying that it was a fairly new furnace it was running fine. Hmm Thx for your great shows, videos & passing on the info.
Uh Oh GAS. My cousin is building a new house in California, they were told they cannot put in any gas appliances or wood stoves.
The problem is that almost all of the service companies are worthless and you're often better off NOT having them touch your furnace or air conditioner.
I'M CROWNING ! ! !
In all my years having my furnace cleaned and serviced, I had never seen them checking combustion levels and such. They cleaned the areas with a vacuum and brush and lit the pilot light and that was it, which is why I stopped calling them and started doing it myself. Now, I don't have the tools to check those other levels, so I'll have to get someone to do that. But obviously, I'll have to ask for that specifically, because none of the companies hired ever did it on their own.
🥱
What about annual maintenance for a Gas Boiler furnace for Baseboard hot water heat? What maintenance needs to be done for those?!?
Richard, Tommy and the others have a level of knowledge and expertise that is extraordinary! We're fortunate to have their explanations and demonstrations to help us better understand plumbing, carpentry, electrical, etc.
Important to note that this only applies to gas fired furnaces. Mini splits, heat pumps, and electric heat does not have this problem as long as you use the right filters, change your filters often, and clean your units regularly. There is no CO or NOx gas in a furnace that doesn't burn propane or natural gas.
why is bros apple watch backwards lol. does he really like reach around to use the buttons
Story time! My Mom had a problem where she could NOT keep plants alive inside her home. She, unrelated to the plants called an HVAC guy who after doing some testing on her mid-70s furnace discovered that it was POURING CO into the house. After getting the furnace replaced she has had zero green thumb issues indoors! My man saved my Mom's life ❤❤
This Old House: please do a video on Gutter Guards…which ones work, if any. Cost effectiveness etc.
Out of curiosity, what’s a good price for an annual maintenance call for a furnace combined with an AC unit? Not asking about repairs…just the call for service and going through the checklist
The best TV show ever aired …. bar none! I have been watching THH since 1979 and I still learn from theses amazing cast members.
In gas furnaces, is it customary that new air goes in from the bottom of it?
beginning of winter would be a better time to share this advise
I would love to see HOW to clean the A/C fins. I had an electric furnace installed and they only told me after they had sealed everything back up that the existing ac fins were dirty and that I should hire someone to peel the furnace apart to clean them.
🤔
HVAC techs work on commission. Theyll get into your house under the premise of a $69 tune-up and then show you a photo of your cracked heat exchanger, but beware it can be a total fraud.
Cracked exchanger a Lennox?
Does it matters if i have floor heating?
As a retired first responder for a gas utility I can tell you, Richard does make a lot of good points but he is totally wrong about cracks in the heat exchanger putting carbon monoxide (CO )into the airstream; yes, cracks can contribute to products of combustion entering the airstream but not in the way you think. Once the blower comes on it puts positive pressure on the heat exchanger and if the cracks are large enough this will cause flame rollout to enter the vestibule of the furnace causing products of the combustion or CO to enter the area around the outside of the furnace and possibly get sucked in through the blower compartment. The furnace Richard was showing had something called flame rollout switches that would prevent serious flame rollouts from occurring by locking out the furnace , they’re not perfect, but in most cases they work as designed preventing hazardous conditions. Just a note and reminder this is the 21st century everyone should have a carbon monoxide detector /combustible gas detector & smoke detector (nowadays they have all three combined into one ).
Stay safe out there , have those furnaces periodically cleaned /serviced and make sure you have those working detectors 👍.
P.S. , note to this old house producers: videos like this should be done in the beginning of the heating season (October ) not at the end of the heating season (March almost the beginning of April). I’m assuming you’re going to talk about maintaining air conditioning systems in December? Come on guys, let’s use a little common sense.
I like how Kevin acts like he hasn't heard all of this before. Kevin knows all of this as Richard has explained this to him multiple times. But he always pretends like he is learning all of this for the first time.
Had an older neighbor whose daughter had given her phone number 25 years ago in case anything was going on. Her outdoor heating unit hadn't been serviced in years and hers was causing fumes of natural gas to affect my house, she had the repairman out the next day and he told me how bad it really was. These things have to be serviced, it's not a wood stove and even with those the chimney will have to be serviced. These things escape older people's minds, especially older women who haven't had to deal with such things in their lives.
Can you do a review on electric HVAC ?
I have my furnace serviced once a year and my central serviced once a year and I change the filters on a regular basis — monthly. Should this take care of the thorough inspection you showed on this video? One other question, what are your thoughts on replacing the gas furnace with electric furnace. I've heard this announcement twice.