Is your furnace or air conditioner telling you it's due for a tune-up?
Most systems give a few hints before they quit. The furnace starts and stops more often than it used to, or it sounds louder than last winter. Some rooms stay cool while others get stuffy. You notice a small puddle by the base of the furnace, or a gurgle from the plastic drain line beside it. The filter is grey when you pull it, and the gas bill is higher than the same month last year.
On the cooling side, the first hot week is usually when it shows. The air from the vents feels only a little cool, the outdoor unit hums but the fan is slow, or there is water dripping where there shouldn't be. None of these mean the system is finished. They usually mean it needs cleaning, adjusting or a small part, and a tune-up is the right time to find out. If the heat or cooling has stopped entirely, book a furnace repair or an air conditioner repair instead.
When should you stop waiting for a tune-up and call right away?
If you smell gas, don't switch lights or appliances on or off. Get everyone out of the house and call the gas utility's emergency line from outside. If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, or people in the house have headaches, nausea or drowsiness that ease when they step outside, leave, call 911, and don't go back in until you're told it is safe.
The Ontario Fire Code requires a working carbon monoxide alarm next to each sleeping area in a home with a fuel-burning appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage. Most Waterdown homes have at least one of those. Test the alarms when you change the furnace filter, and replace them when they reach the end-of-life date printed on the back. A tune-up is good prevention, but it is no substitute for working alarms.
What does a tune-up look at in a newer house in Waterdown South or Waterdown Bay?
Houses built in Waterdown South and Waterdown Bay usually have a high-efficiency condensing furnace, two plastic vent pipes through the side wall, a heat-recovery ventilator and central air. The common trouble spots are predictable. The condensate trap and drain collect sludge, and when they back up the furnace shuts itself off, often on a cold night. A tune-up includes cleaning and flushing that drain and checking that the line can't freeze where it runs.
The side-wall vents matter too. The climate station at the Royal Botanical Gardens, near Waterdown, recorded a normal annual snowfall of 118.1 cm for 1981 to 2010, and drifts pile up against low pipes fast. We look at how high your vents sit, whether the screens are clear and whether the exhaust has been icing. The HRV gets attention as well: a clean filter and a ventilator that is in balance help with the dry winter air and the window condensation many newer homes see. Our humidity guide explains more.
What does a tune-up look at in an older house in the Griffin Survey or Glenlea?
Older houses carry their history in the basement. In the Griffin Survey and the McMonnies and Stock Survey, many homes started on coal or wood, moved to oil and then to gas. Technicians often find converted ductwork, aging boilers and unlined masonry chimneys there. When a newer appliance vents into a brick chimney that was never lined, the moisture in the exhaust can slowly damage the masonry. So the chimney, its connection and the draft are a big part of the visit.
In the post-war surveys, such as Glenlea, Buchan Court and Renwood Park, the usual pattern is a forced-air system on its second or third furnace and still on the original ductwork. If the furnace has already gone high-efficiency, the gas water heater may be left venting alone into a chimney sized for much more heat, and it can backdraft. We check how that water heater drafts and tell you plainly if a liner or a different venting setup makes sense. Undersized ducts and returns also show up as noise and uneven rooms, and we'll point that out with the options. A furnace that is near the end may be better replaced than tuned, so see furnace installation and replacement if that is where you're at.
How does regular maintenance protect the manufacturer's warranty?
Many furnace and air conditioner manufacturers expect the equipment to be serviced by a qualified technician, and some ask for proof when a part fails under warranty. Read the warranty papers that came with your system, or the registration you did online, to see what yours requires. After a tune-up you get a written record of what was checked, cleaned and adjusted, with the date. Keep it with the furnace manual so it is easy to find if you ever make a claim.
Gas furnaces, boilers and water heaters in Ontario are serviced to the CSA B149.1 installation code. Work is performed by TSSA-certified gas technicians. A properly done, properly recorded service is part of what keeps that warranty in good standing.
When should the air conditioner be serviced, and what is done?
Spring is the best time, before the first heat wave. Waterdown's January normal daily average is -4.7 °C at the nearby Royal Botanical Gardens station, so the furnace has done most of the work by April and the air conditioner has sat outside through months of snow and ice. A cooling tune-up covers the outdoor coil and fan, the electrical parts, the indoor coil and its drain, and how well the system is actually cooling. If refrigerant work is needed, that is a separate trade. Work is performed by 313A refrigeration and air conditioning mechanics.
Fall is the time for the furnace, before you need it every day. Many people book both at once, or a fall furnace visit and a spring cooling visit. If you have a heat pump, it works in both seasons, and heat pumps explains what changes. Tell us your house, your system and when it was last looked at, and request a visit. You see the price before any work beyond the tune-up is done.