Essential Furnace Maintenance for a Safe and Healthy Fall

It is FINALLY official - fall has arrived!

While it is true that we have another full month or so to go before temperatures start their downward spiral, you don't want to wait until the big chill arrives to discover that your furnace isn't up to the task.

If ever there was a year when you want your home and workplace heating equipment functioning safely and at peak efficiency, this would be the year!

Essential preventative furnace maintenance isn't just about trimming dollars and cents off your bottom line this year. It is about safeguarding your health.

In fact, taking safety precautions now could actually lower your risk of contracting not only COVID-19, but also cold and flu germs.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if you avoided both COVID-19 and cold and flu this year? Read on to learn how timely essential furnace maintenance from your trusted Bi-Temp Heating and Cooling company may help you achieve this goal.

FACT: Cleaner Air Is Safer Air

Regardless of what the threat may be from year to year, this fact remains constant:

Cleaner air is always going to be safer air.

Add to this that the three biggest cold season health threats - COVID-19, colds and flu - are all airborne.

In fact, COVID-19 cases here in Ontario are already on the rise yet again. To that point, recent news reports warn of a "more challenging" second wave of COVID-19 coming to Ontario this fall

The reason is simple: we are headed back indoors to wait out the long, cold and often dry winter together.

Worryingly, data shows that the single greatest accelerator of COVID-19 cases is larger concentrations of people in enclosed spaces together for longer time periods.

This makes the number one safety factor the quality of the air we are all breathing. This is where our qualified HVAC technicians at Bi-Temp in Belleville come in! We provide the right knowledge, the right heating and cooling products and the right service to ensure that you are breathing in clean air. 

Three Important Benefits of Preventative Furnace Maintenance

When most people think about preventative furnace maintenance, they think about preventing home fires and increasing energy efficiency.

These are two of the three biggest benefits of scheduling fall furnace maintenance.

The third benefit, as you just read about, is improved air quality.

And this third benefit is perhaps the most important of all as we face down the continued threat of COVID-19 this winter season.

Does Your Poorly Maintained Furnace Make You Sick?

If you are like most of our customers, you haven't powered on your furnace since early this year. It has been months since your furnace has had to do anything more taxing than sitting idly by, gathering dust.....lots and lots of dust.

Dust, dirt, debris, insect waste and remains, pollen, mould and mildew, bacteria, pet dander - all of these micro-particles have drifted down and settled into and onto your blower motor and fan blades, evaporator and condenser coils, belts and other movable parts.

Have you ever wondered what causes that signature "burning smell" so many furnaces emit when powered on for the first time each fall? That smell comes from part of all that debris burning away.

Yuck.

The rest gets pushed out and back into your indoor air supply. Then you breathe it in. Then your respiratory passages and lungs have to work harder to clean the air and filter out micro-toxins as you breathe.

With a part of your immune system constantly engaged in this low-level resistance work, it is easier for more serious threats like cold, flu and COVID-19 to slip in unchallenged and take hold.

How DOES Preventative Furnace Maintenance Help You To Stay Healthier?

If you are like most of our Bi-Temp customers, you have probably been reading a lot about air cleaners and air filters lately.

Powerful indoor air quality appliances such as HEPA (high efficiency particulate air) filtration systems and ultraviolet air purifiers are big news this year.

The typical residential or commercial HVAC system cannot handle high-density MERV 17-20 or HEPA air filters. However, the option exists to retrofit an existing HVAC system with a standalone HEPA air filtration system and an ultraviolet purification unit.

COVID-19 has hit a lot of people in the wallet this year though, and not all of our customers have the budget for these types of radical indoor air quality upgrades.

The good news is, there is a lot you can do to upgrade your indoor air quality without going into the red financially.

A simple preventative furnace maintenance cleaning and tune-up with our Bi-Temp furnace technicians will remove solid sediment and micro-particulates that could otherwise serve as tiny transport units for COVID-19 droplets, cold and flu germs.

The less floating matter you have in your indoor air, the less likely it is that invading infectious droplets will be able to find transportation that will allow them to stay airborne for longer and find their way into your lungs.

In other words, the more micro-particulate solids you remove from the air, the safer you will be. Anything you can do to achieve this goal will stack the health deck in your favour.

The Three Most Essential Furnace Maintenance Tasks for Better Health

We truly do understand that some of our regular Bi-Temp customers have more limited financial means this year, due to COVID-19's impact. Our technicians have come up with three affordable maintenance tasks that can hugely benefit your indoor air quality without costing you a lot of money.

If you can do nothing else, be sure you tend to these three essential furnace maintenance tasks:

1. Change your furnace filter at least every 30 days.

2. Clean and dust the air registers, return grills and exhaust vents.

3. Remove all debris and clean the outside and inside units.

Reach out to schedule affordable preventative furnace maintenance service to protect your health this winter.

Get in Touch With Bi-Temp LTD. In Belleville

Our enhanced pandemic safety protocols at Bi-Tempt LTD. in Belleville, Ontario, ensure we can continue providing you with prompt and professional 24/7 emergency service.

Looking for local HVAC specialists? Give our friendly and highly qualified Bi-Temp technicians a call at 1-613-967-1066 or visit us online. We service Quinte and the surrounding areas!