HEATING
FURNACE REPAIR
FURNACE REPLACEMENT
FURNACE PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE
Signs Your Furnace Has a Problem
There are times when something goes wrong in the heating process. Though this sometimes leads to an obvious problem—a complete furnace breakdown—this isn’t always the case. Much of the time, the signs you need to call a Aurora HVAC contractor are much more subtle. To prevent big problems from snowballing into larger ones, it’s important to be on the lookout for the following:
- Weird Smells: When you first turn your furnace on for the year, you might notice a musty smell. This is typically dust burning off that settled over the months your furnace sat idle. This will dissipate as the unit operates and isn’t anything to be concerned about. If you notice an odor that suddenly appears or refuses to go away, however, it’s time to call an Aurora HVAC professional.
- Odd Noises: Is your furnace banging or making some other kind of noise? This can be the result of numerous issues with the unit and is best diagnosed by a heating repair expert.
- More Service Calls: Every furnace in Aurora will have a part fail and need service in its life. In fact, one out of four people in the US will have an HVAC technician in their home each year. But if you’re making multiple calls in a heating season, it’s a sign you’ve been propping up a system that is aging out. Note that service calls don’t include preventative furnace maintenance visits.
- Climbing Utility Bills: There are many reasons your electric or gas bills can rise. Cooler temperatures are an obvious reason. But, if your fuel usage suddenly increases dramatically, you probably should have our local HVAC experts take a look. This increased cost often indicates a furnace that’s being pushed past its limit.
- Visual Rust: While some amount of rust is expected with age, excessive amounts—especially on the flue—can be a sign of improper venting. If a roof or plumbing leak is causing furnace corrosion, it’s not just an eyesore. It can be dangerous. If the system rusts through to the heat exchanger, your home could be contaminated with deadly carbon monoxide.
- Frequent Cycling: If your furnace is constantly turning on and off, there’s something stopping the unit from working properly. Unfortunately, this can be difficult to diagnose due to a variety of potential causes. To get the problem located and fixed quickly, rely on our heating experts.
- Start-Up Problems: Does your furnace not turn on when it drops below the indicated temperature on your thermostat? Are you hearing clicking noises on start-up? These issues often signal an upcoming furnace breakdown.
Fortunately, no matter the scope or size of the problem, our HVAC experts can handle your residential furnace repair.
Signs You Might Need a New Furnace
Can you imagine living in the Sycamore area without a functioning furnace? It’s not a pleasant thought, is it? Unfortunately, if your furnace is approaching its 10th birthday, it might be something you experience firsthand in the near future. Like all of us, heating systems have an expiration date. As time goes on, the need for regular furnace repair grows, and parts become harder and harder to find. Eventually, whether out of economy or necessity, all furnaces will break down and have to be replaced.
A furnace on its last legs will often throw up an SOS. In some cases, these calls for help are obvious. A furnace that will no longer kick on, for instance. But there are a number of subtler signs that a new furnace may be soon needed. These include:
- Age: If your furnace is over 10 years old, it’s often wise to at least consider replacement over repair. Newer furnaces are much more efficient than older ones. They also come equipped with a number of SMART systems. As the time of manufacture grows more distant, parts availability can also be impacted.
- Repeated Visits: Are you having to call us more than once in a heating season for unrelated problems? This is often a sign of an impending disaster. Parts in older furnaces often fail in quick succession. The service fees for these visits quickly pile up and can eventually be more expensive than installing a new furnace.
- Weird Smells: Do you notice a strange smell when the furnace kicks on? Does this odor refuse to dissipate with continued use? This can often be a sign of a leak or defective ductwork. However, if you only notice the smell the first time you turn the furnace on for the season, this is in line with the typical furnace start-up. That smell is the odor of accumulated summer dust burning off.
- Odd Noises: Sometimes those things that go “bump in the night’, might be a sign that your furnace is on its last legs. These noises can indicate the beginnings of a major component failure.
- Climbing Utility Bills: As heating equipment begins to fail, it may have to work harder to keep temperature. This can lead to an unusually large spike in your gas or electric bills.
- Visual Rust: Small amounts of rust in the burner area are to be expected with age. However, excessive amounts can signal an issue with the heat exchanger. If it gets too severe, vital components can fail and allow carbon monoxide into your home. It’s never a bad idea to have an HVAC professional check on a rust problem.
No matter how large or how small your home is, Energy Specialists of Illinois Inc can keep it warm with a professional furnace replacement.
The Benefits of Furnace Maintenance
In our years of replacing heating systems, we’ve seen the benefits of preventive HVAC maintenance. We also know the best way to ensure long-term comfort for you and your family is to call us for regular equipment service. But, we know the additional cost of these tune-ups can make being proactive much less appealing. Before getting too hung up on the money, however, know that the benefits of heating maintenance far outweigh the costs. Reasons to subscribe to preventative service include:
- Warranty Requirements: Do you want to be on the hook for a breakdown in the first few years of your furnace’s life? If not, you’ll need to find an “HVAC company near me” to handle your Sycamore furnace maintenance. Most manufacturers require you to provide tune-up records prior to fulfilling warranty repairs.
- Reduced Chance of Breakdown: Scheduling regular maintenance isn’t a guarantee that your system won’t fail, but it can drastically reduce the likelihood. While examining your system, our heating technician will look for any signs of damage or component failure and will have the opportunity to fix the system proactively. That will help you escape the need for emergency service in extreme weather when faltering equipment often fails.
- More Effective Home Heating: During the tune-up, our HVAC technician will clean and calibrate your furnace. They will make necessary adjustments to control and blower speed to ensure optimal airflow. This means fewer nights with cold feet and heavy blankets.
- Fuel and Energy Savings: When properly maintained and installed, your furnace doesn’t have to fight as hard to heat your home. This means less wasted energy and lower energy bills in Sycamore and DeKalb.
- Maximize System Lifespan: A new furnace isn’t cheap and can cost thousands to replace. The last thing you want to do is shorten your equipment’s lifespan by skipping needed maintenance. We often see systems that receive regular tune-ups outlast poorly maintained ones by five years or more.
With all of those benefits, it’s hard not to see the value of regular furnace tune-ups. Call Energy Specialists of Illinois Inc for your yearly maintenance and experience the benefits of proactiveness first hand.
HUMIDIFIER SERVICES
A home that’s too dry deprives your nose and body of moisture needed by protective mucus layers and enables germs to travel farther. It also aggravates your throat and nose leading to allergy problems. Humidifiers, of which there are three main kinds, bring water into your home’s air to solve these problems. Letting Energy Specialists of Illinois install a whole-home humidifier will mean more comfortable living for you and your family.
Installing a humidifier in the Aurora area will:
- Increase the moisture in your air
- Reduce static electricity
- Help you feel warmer in the winter
- Protect your wooden furniture from drying out
- Lower heating costs
- Calm overly active allergies
SMART THERMOSTATS & VENTILATION
Taking control of your home comfort means more than just running your furnace. Upgrading to a modern smart thermostat allows you to optimize your heating schedule, lower your energy bills, and monitor your home’s HVAC system right from your phone. Combined with proper indoor ventilation solutions, we help keeo your home’s air clean, fresh and perfectly balanced all winter long.
- Smart Thermostat Installation: Upgrade to advanced controls like Nest or Escobee for maximum energy savings.
- System Integration: Program custom heating schedules that adapt to your daily routine.
- Imrpoved Indoor: Air Quiality: Ventilation upgrades that bring in fresh outdoor air while filtering out dust and allergens.
- Remote Monitoring: Control your home’s temperature from anywhere using your smartphone or tablet.
Ready to get your furnace and humidifier fixed? Request an estimate NOW!