4 Signs Your Burner Needs to Be Serviced

Featured Image Caption: Home Burner

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Keeping your burner serviced is a matter of convenience, safety, and financial prudence. Most homeowners understand the aggravation of waiting for the shower to get hot for minutes, before realizing there isn’t any coming. However, the real reason to keep your system in good condition is to avoid potentially dangerous situations or costly repairs that could add some serious expenses to your holiday season.

Short Cycling and Unreliability

Short cycling or overall unreliability can be caused by many different problems, ranging from old filters to faults in the thermostat. You shouldn’t need to manually reset and reignite your system very often, so this should be an obvious warning sign that you need a checkup. Sometimes these systems do trip their own fail-safe mechanisms during normal operations, but this shouldn’t happen more than a couple of times in a year. Even just one false fail-safe trigger, however, may be worth getting your system checked. When it is checked, you’ll likely benefit from getting the system fixed so it doesn’t do that anymore or it will expose a concern that needs to be addressed for the use and safety of the system.

There’s Weird Noises or Bad Smells

If you notice weird noises or bad smells coming from your unit, then it’s a good indicator that you need burner service right now. It’s a good idea to turn your system off if there are any unusual sounds or odors. While these things aren’t uncommon, they can be signs of a dangerous issue that could contaminate the air inside your home or even present a fire hazard. Often times, homeowners will notice a burning smell when the system first starts getting into use. This could be dust being burned, which is not to be confused with gas or toxic smell. If you don’t recognize the smell, then it is likely better for you to contact a professional for a free consultation, just to be sure.

It’s Inconsistent or Unresponsive

Sometimes we don’t notice drops in performance or efficiency right away. Since these problems can get slowly worse over time, it’s easy to ignore them or just get used to the inefficiency. However, you shouldn’t let unresponsiveness or inconsistency go on for too long. If your heat doesn’t respond to changes in the thermostat or doesn’t perform the same way every day, then you need to get it looked at as soon as possible. If you aren’t sure if it is slowly becoming inconsistent or unresponsive, then consider tracking when it turns on compared to what settings you have in place for it. That way, you can start to notice patterns, if there are any.

You Can’t Remember the Last Service Call

General wear and tear always take a toll on your system, which is why you shouldn’t wait for visible problems to schedule servicing. While your maintenance schedule should be based on the specifications provided by your unit’s manufacturer, most systems only need one good cleaning and service check each year. It’s tempting to skip these calls to save a bit of money, which is why you should remember that catching a problem early on can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year or two from now. Depending on the time of year, you may be able to get discounts on annual maintenance. It is worth reaching out to an HVAC company to ask what time of year they have the cheapest prices. Most companies are happy to share that information.

When it comes to servicing and maintaining your burner, it’s usually a good idea to schedule this well before you will need to start heating your home in the winter months. This gives you plenty of time to have any problems fixed before things get chilly.