As the winter months roll in and the temperature drops, you may face the challenge of keeping your home warm and cozy. If you’re struggling to heat your home effectively during cold spells, follow these tips to get things warmed up again. 

8 Tips for Helping Your Furnace Keep Up with the Cold

1. Check your thermostat

At the start of every winter, you should visually inspect your thermostat for any signs of damage both on the exterior and interior. 

On the face of your thermostat, make sure the display is clear and easy to read. A faded or malfunctioning display can make it difficult to monitor and adjust your home’s temperature accurately and may be a sign of a faulty thermostat. 

If you can, remove the thermostat and check behind it. Look for any frayed or loose wires, cracks on the thermostat itself, or any other indication of damage. If your thermostat is visibly broken, it’s time to buy a replacement. 

2. Calibrate your thermostat

For precise temperature regulation, cross-verify your thermostat with a separate thermometer, ideally a digital one. This step is particularly crucial if you’ve noticed inconsistent heating or cooling. 

If there’s a discrepancy between the thermostat’s reading and the separate thermometer, follow the manufacturer’s guidelines to recalibrate it. Calibrating your thermostat ensures that it accurately reflects the actual room temperature, preventing you from underheating (or overheating!) your home. 

3. Invest in a programmable thermostat

While a programmable thermostat doesn’t directly fix a struggling furnace, it can significantly improve energy efficiency, easing the workload on the furnace. This, in turn, can help prolong the life of your heating system and potentially delay the need for expensive repairs or replacements. 

4. Replace your air filter

When your air filter is clogged, your furnace has to push air through the resistance of the accumulated debris. If the accumulation gets bad enough, it can lead to uneven heating. 

Most filters are easy to access and can be changed without professional help. It’s a cost-effective way to keep your heating system in top condition.

By checking and replacing your air filter regularly, you can maintain an unobstructed airflow, helping your furnace operate more efficiently and heat your home more evenly.

5. Check the heat exchanger

Your furnace’s heat exchanger is central to its ability to warm up cold air to circulate throughout your home. Cracks in the heat exchanger can alter the airflow within the furnace and cause an inefficient transfer of heat. 

As a result, your furnace needs to run longer and work harder to achieve and maintain the desired temperature in your home. This results in higher energy consumption and increased heating costs.

If you have a gas furnace, cracks in your furnace’s heat exchanger are especially dangerous, because those cracks are allowing dangerous combustion byproducts to leak into your home. Any cracks should be dealt with immediately by a professional HVAC technician. 

6. Inspect the blower belt

When your furnace’s blower belt becomes worn or damaged, it can slip or break. This directly affects the efficiency of the blower fan. An inefficient blower fan may not push out enough warm air, leading to uneven heating and increased energy consumption. As a result, you may experience cold spots in your home and higher heating bills.

It is easy enough to replace the belt yourself. But if you can’t or don’t want to replace the blower belt, you can call a professional technician to help. 

7. Seal any gaps

Gaps and cracks in doors, windows, and walls can allow outside air to seep into your home, causing temperature imbalances. During the winter, these gaps can make your furnace less efficient at heating your home and can even result in large areas of cold air that your furnace can’t keep up with. 

To find where any gaps may be located, you can simply use your hand to inspect windows and doors for drafts. You can then seal any gaps you find by using weatherstripping, caulking, or insulation materials, depending on the location and size of the gaps. 

8. Add attic insulation 

Unfinished attics are a common source of heat loss in homes, especially in colder climates. Without adequate insulation, warm air produced by your furnace can escape through the roof. 

By adding insulation to your attic, you create a thermal barrier that prevents this heat loss. This means that the warm air your furnace generates stays inside your home, helping it more easily maintain a comfortable indoor temperature. 

When All Else Fails, Call the Pros 

Still not sure what’s going on with your furnace? Or maybe you are, but you just don’t want to deal with it yourself? Our professional HVAC technicians can help you diagnose and fix any problem you may have with your furnace. Give us a call to schedule an appointment today.