10 Top Tips for Preparing Your Furnace for Heating Season

To maintain your HVAC system and prevent future problems, ecobee recommends hiring an HVAC professional to perform twice-annual system checkups. Typically, a contractor will check the cooling system in the spring and heating system in the fall.

Along with hiring a pro to maintain your system, here are some tips to ensure a smooth transition from cooling season to heating season.

A dirty filter is much less energy efficient than a clean one, which makes your system work harder to keep you warm or cool. Replacing a dirty filter, can lower your energy consumption costs by 5– to 15% and prevent costly repairs.¹

For optimum performance, ecobee recommends monthly filter checks, especially during times of peak use like the summer or winter, and regular filter changes every three months.

Did you know? You can program your ecobee thermostat to send you a notification when it needs a new filter.

As part of turning on your heating system and transitioning into the colder months, open any indoor vents that were closed for the summer cooling season. If any rooms in the house are getting too hot or cold, adjust the vents accordingly.

Did you know? ecobee thermostats work with ecobee remote thermostat sensors to deliver comfort where it counts. Place SmartSensors in important rooms and hot or cold areas around your home for a more evenly balanced temperature.

Heat pumps pull outside air over the outdoor condenser’s coils to heat or cool the house. While doing this, they also suck in dirt and debris which gathers around the coils.

Most HVAC contractors include coil cleaning as part of their bi-annual maintenance package—which is good because this is a job best left to the pros.

To help maintain your heat pump’s air flow, keep a minimum two-foot clearance around the entire unit and never stack anything on top of it (that includes the garden hose).

Gas-burning furnaces need ample fresh air and create exhaust that must to be vented. Leaves and snow can build up around your home during the heating season. Shovel or rake around exterior vents to keep them obstruction-free.

Some furnaces include a whole-home humidification system. Most manufacturers recommend changing the humidifier pad about once per year. Humidifiers are rarely used during the summer, which makes fall a good time to replace the pad.

Ask your HVAC contractor to check the pad and replace it as needed. If you prefer to replace it yourself, be sure to first turn off power at the system circuit breaker. Then follow the instructions in your humification equipment’s manual.

It’s always good to test the heating system before you need it. Let it run for 15 to 20 minutes to ensure normal operation.

If the system turns off before meeting the temperature on your thermostat, you may need to call a technician to identify and resolve the problem.

The smell of burning dust is very common when turning on the furnace for the first time in months. Typically, a slight odor isn’t cause for concern. Just open the windows and allow it to disperse. If it persists, turn off the system and call a contractor.

Did you know? ecobee thermostats make testing your furnace easy. Just run the Test Equipment feature on the thermostat to see if your furnace is functioning properly.

If everyone’s usually out during the day, you can set the temperature back a few degrees for energy savings, then turn it up again so it’s warm when you get home.

Did you know? ecobee smart thermostats not only allow you to set a daily schedule, they use occupancy-sensing and geofencing to automatically deliver comfort when you’re home and energy savings when you’re away.

Energy savings are important, but there is more to it than that. Which is why ecobee smart thermostats work with SmartSensor to enhance your comfort

Place sensors in the most important rooms, like the nursery or your bedroom. SmartSensor uses occupancy detection to understand which rooms are in use to prioritize comfort where it counts