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 extremely cold weather to 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 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 extremely cold weather, some furnaces might not be able to bring a home 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 extremely cold weather, or if you'd like a heating system serviced or installed in your home, contact The Air Company of Georgia at 404-583-7788. We service the Atlanta GA area.
