Latest / Shafer Heating and Cooling Service Repair Podcast / What Is The Best Way To Maintain My Furnace?

Transcript

What Is The Best Way To Maintain My Furnace? · Shafer Heating and Cooling Service Repair Podcast

• 0:01
  Nathan Shafer is joining me here on Check a Pro Radio. Shafer,
• 0:05
  Heating, and Cooling is good to see you. How are you?
• 0:08
  Hey, good. How are you? I am living the dream. Thank you so much.
• 0:13
  Questions come into the radio show all the time, and you're my go-to HVAC guy.
• 0:18
  So I want to ask you some questions. How does that sound?
• 0:21
  Sounds good. I appreciate you leaning on us as your go-to.
• 0:26
  Absolutely. I go with the pros. is the question from one of our listeners is,
• 0:31
  is what's the best way to maintain my furnace?
• 0:34
  That's kind of open-ended, but it is important to maintain furnaces, isn't it?
• 0:40
  Oh, a hundred percent. And, uh, it's one of those things that oftentimes isn't thought about.
• 0:43
  So great question, at least ways that they've taken step one and they recognize
• 0:47
  the need for it and they're, and they're reaching out and asking.
• 0:49
  So, uh, you know, the simplest way, there's some things that you can do yourself,
• 0:53
  obviously, uh, like keeping the filter clean and change on a regular basis.
• 0:57
  And that could vary by the type of filter that you have anywhere from a month
• 1:00
  to six months is common, depending on the style of filter.
• 1:03
  Um, there's some things you can do yourself, keeping the leaves and debris and
• 1:06
  different things away from the outdoor unit. If you have a heat pump system
• 1:09
  that's running in the winter time.
• 1:11
  Um, but really most importantly to keep it simple is, you know,
• 1:15
  uh, for us, we like to take all of the risk and the responsibility off of our
• 1:18
  clients and put that onto our shoulders on the professionals where it belongs.
• 1:21
  And so, uh, doing something like what's called, we call it a VIP club membership.
• 1:25
  Um, there's different levels of maintenance programs. Um, there's debate,
• 1:30
  small maintenance programs, and there's kind of the all in that can include
• 1:32
  system, uh, rejuvenations and things, but that's going to, we're going to be
• 1:35
  able to go in and properly clean the coils, the heat exchanger, the blower wheel, um,
• 1:41
  check and make sure the ductwork's clean.
• 1:42
  There's a lot of different things that need to be done. The drain lines are clean.
• 1:45
  Uh, we're going to take and keep all that at factory fresh conditions,
• 1:48
  uh, for the client because there's also some safety things that are involved.
• 1:51
  We want to make sure the gas pressures are good or the electrical connections,
• 1:54
  the voltage, the amp draws, all the different things that tie into not only
• 1:58
  safety, but also utility usage.
• 2:01
  And so lots of steps that can be taken there, but the best bet is to have a
• 2:04
  professional come out and have that taken care of for them.
• 2:08
  So it's not one of those things. We'll just run it till it breaks.
• 2:12
  That's not a good idea. Now people do that all the time with their swimming
• 2:15
  pool, their, their car, a tractor, lawnmower.
• 2:21
  Um, it's, it's not like plumbing.
• 2:25
  I think plumbing itself outside of a water heater, you can kind of go until there's a leak, right?
• 2:30
  Cause you know, a little different, even electrical system, a little different,
• 2:34
  but that's not true of mechanical things that are moving. Right.
• 2:38
  I mean, we've got flames, we've got elements, we've got blower motors and these
• 2:44
  things need to be maintained.
• 2:46
  A hundred percent. Yeah. And you know, whether your system's brand new or whether
• 2:51
  it's 10, 15 years old, like at some point you or somebody, you know,
• 2:55
  it's an investment, you know, spend a lot of money on that system.
• 2:58
  And so you want, you do want to be able to protect that investment and keep
• 3:01
  it lasting as long as possible and operating as efficiently as possible.
• 3:05
  Uh, I mean, studies show you look at, you know, consumer reports and different
• 3:09
  things that, uh, an improperly maintained system, you know, can decrease in
• 3:13
  efficiency very, very quickly.
• 3:15
  Uh, you know, you could be potentially spending 25, 35, 45, 50% more on your
• 3:19
  utility bills just because of an improperly maintained system.
• 3:23
  And so it's really key. And I know, you know, utility rates are on the rise, right?
• 3:27
  There's nothing we can do about that, but we can help reduce what we're,
• 3:31
  what we're paying on that by properly taking care of our systems as well as
• 3:34
  helping them last as long as possible. in protecting that investment.
• 3:38
  So yeah, absolutely. It's extremely important to do. But one of those things,
• 3:41
  it's out of sight, out of mind, right? We don't really think about it often.
• 3:43
  Until something breaks, then it's really costly.
• 3:47
  I think it's like going to the dentist. We don't like to go to the dentist, but...
• 3:52
  Our insurance companies, if you have dental insurance, they will pay for two
• 3:57
  annual cleanings, let's say every six months.
• 4:01
  That's part of what you get. And there has to be a reason why they want to do
• 4:05
  that. And I'll tell you what it is. It's pretty obvious.
• 4:08
  If you go in every six months for a cleaning and a checkup, then you're less
• 4:14
  likely to need a root canal, which is more expensive for the insurance company.
• 4:18
  We're talking the same thing with these moving parts in our home, right?
• 4:22
  Oh, 100%. Yeah. I mean, our happiest clients are the ones that are on,
• 4:26
  we call that VIP club membership, where we're out twice a year and servicing
• 4:29
  and cleaning that system and keeping up those factory fresh conditions.
• 4:32
  We see them twice a year because it's a planned, routine service on the system,
• 4:37
  but they have the least amount of surprises.
• 4:39
  We see them the least when it comes to breakdowns, holidays,
• 4:43
  extreme heat, extreme cold, when the system always breaks at that perfect time,
• 4:47
  in the middle of the night or whatever, we see those customers the least.
• 4:50
  And we have thousands of customers on that program, but those are literally
• 4:54
  our happiest customers. They get the most benefits and savings.
• 4:57
  You know, they're a VIP treatment and their systems last the longest.
• 5:01
  And now they get to make those choices typically of when to replace them or
• 5:05
  when to do enhancements and upgrades on their time instead of when the system tells them it's time.
• 5:10
  It's much more planned out that way and less reactive.
• 5:14
  And what's nice is they don't have to lay in a chair with a bright light in
• 5:18
  their face with their mouth open. Um, you don't have to do anything,
• 5:22
  right? You do all the work. Way better than going to the dentist.
• 5:25
  They could be sitting on the couch and, you know, enjoying themselves while
• 5:30
  you and your team are doing that maintenance, which is so important.
• 5:34
  You don't want to have your HVAC system, heating and air conditioning system
• 5:39
  go down on the coldest day and the hottest day, um, on the weekends, on holidays.
• 5:45
  It's less likely to go down if it's maintained properly, even if it's an old system.
• 5:52
  Yeah, a hundred percent. Absolutely. Yeah. As always, Nathan,
• 5:55
  thank you for joining me today on the program. I appreciate your expertise.
• 5:59
  Hey, anytime. Happy to help. Thanks for having me.