![\"heater-jets\"](\"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Heating__iStock_000000919977_Full-me-300x194.jpg\")
Are you one of the over 64 million homeowners in the U.S. who use natural gas for winter heat? It is that popular\u2014but that also means that there are more people that may be dealing with safety issues. We don\u2019t mean to say that gas furnaces post an inherent risk to homeowners\u2014they don\u2019t. They wouldn\u2019t be installed in so many homes if so. In fact, current standards for gas-heating manufacturers put a special emphasis on maintaining safe operation.<\/p>\n
But, <\/em>if your furnace isn\u2019t well cared for, you could certainly run into problems. No gas-appliance can be 100% problem-proof if it\u2019s not adequately maintained. There\u2019s one gas furnace danger, in particular, you should be aware of in an ill-maintained system, and that\u2019s a cracked heat exchanger.<\/p>\n This is the metal chamber within your furnace that actually heats up the air form combustion gas. It transfers heat to the air passing through the furnace cabinet\u2014in other words, the heat exchanger is where the actual \u201cheating\u201d part of your system\u2019s operation occurs.<\/p>\n The exhaust gas within this heat exchanger is toxic, however the furnace vents it safely away and out of the house through a flue. If cracks form in the heat exchanger, then these harmful gases can escape as the metal expands from the heat. These gases enter the air in the living space, exposing you and your family to them.<\/p>\n Heat exchanger damage usually <\/em>only occurs in furnaces that are aging\u2014systems that are 10-15 years old or beyond. This is enough time for corrosion to set in from the chemical reaction of the metal of the heat exchanger and combustion gases. We do recommend that if your furnace is older than this, you consider replacement.<\/p>\n The best way to prevent harm from a cracked heat exchanger\u2014or any other furnace safety problem\u2014is to have maintenance done on the system each and every year. We recommend that you schedule heating maintenance in the fall, before you need your system the most.<\/p>\n However, it\u2019s more important that you have maintenance done consistently\u2014if you haven\u2019t scheduled maintenance yet this year, it\u2019s certainly not too late. During maintenance, our technicians thoroughly inspect, clean, and adjust your heater. We\u2019ll also alert you to repair needs\u2014and yes, cracked heat exchangers are one of the things we check for.<\/p>\n You can count on a safer system operation when you have regular maintenance done on your heating system. The last thing you need to worry about is that your furnace will become dangerous during the winter. Maintenance also helps prevent the majority of repair needs\u2014in fact, you might be able to avoid up to 85% of the repairs a furnace may ever need in its lifespan just by keeping up with maintenance.<\/p>\n Maintenance also extends your furnace\u2019s life! We mentioned how a cracked heat exchanger typically only occurs in older furnaces\u2014but other problems can take out your furnace far sooner than that. With regular maintenance, you have a better chance of your system actually making it to that full 15 years.<\/p>\n Need furnace repair in Pittsburgh, PA<\/a>? Call the friendly staff at Boehmer Heating & Cooling<\/a> for exceptional customer service!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" No gas-appliance can be 100% problem-proof if it\u2019s not adequately maintained. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[150,113],"class_list":["post-2492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heating","tag-furnace-repair","tag-pittsburgh"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2492"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2495,"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2492\/revisions\/2495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boehmerheating.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What\u2019s the Heat Exchanger?<\/h2>\n
Have Your Furnace Routinely Maintained<\/h2>\n