If you’re like the majority of homeowners in our area, you have a gas-powered furnace in your home to keep you and your family comfortable all winter long. A furnace is a great choice, as it is a powerful and efficient source of heating. Today’s furnace models have a higher efficiency rating than those of even just a decade ago, with the highest AFUE rating (AFUE stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency) for a gas-powered furnace being 98%. Trust us when we say this is efficient heating!
In addition to your heater’s efficiency, you want to be able to rely on it’s safety, too! This isn’t to say that a heating system is inherently dangerous. However, if your furnace isn’t adequately maintained, it can become so. This is especially true when you’re using a gas furnace over an electric furnace.
The most common risk to safety when it comes to furnace use, especially an older one, is a damaged heat exchanger component. Even if you don’t currently have a problem with a heat exchanger, if your furnace is 10-15 years old, it’s time to start considering an upgrade. We’ll dive more into the “why” of this below!
It can, admittedly, be pretty easy to ignore some of the sounds that come from the systems and appliances throughout your home. You may even deny that anything is wrong, since fixing it can be an expensive hassle. However, there are some noises that simply shouldn’t be ignored. Like a rattle coming from your heater, for example–it could be nothing more than a loose panel on the cabinet, but alternatively it could be that you have a cracked heat exchanger, which could lead to a carbon monoxide leak.