The Impact Long Winters Have On Your Furnace And How To Handle It

Long winters, those that keep on going with snowstorms well into April, are definitely no fun for anyone that expects it to be spring. Worse still is the impact of a long winter on your furnace. It induces wear and tear on a furnace that would typically otherwise have been turned off one to two months earlier. Once you finally have the furnace turned off, you may discover that it needs repair. Here are some of those heating repairs and how to handle the situation.

Worn-out Parts

When a furnace has to work harder and longer than it is supposed to, many components break down. They are worn out, and will need to be replaced. However, if you are this close to spring, you have time to consider other options. 

Electrical or Fuel Issues

If your furnace is now burning through more fuel or seemingly sucking up a lot of electricity to keep running, the long winter is causing the furnace to lose its efficiency. There may be a leak in the fuel line, or some short circuiting in the electrical components from overuse or power surges. These issues could be simple fixes, or more complex ones. Either way, this late in the season, it may be more beneficial to just run a space heater when it is chilly instead of trying to figure out if the repair bill is something you need to handle now.

Worth the Repair

If your furnace is connected to your central air, and your central air conditioner utilizes the forced air components of your furnace, it is worth the repair to fix the furnace. Without the forced air components of your furnace, your A/C will not function or circulate properly. Subsequently, with the short spring everyone will experience, and summer just around the corner, it is important to have these parts repaired and/or replaced during the time you are not using either the furnace for heat or the A/C for cooled air.

Not Worth the Repair (at Least for Now)

If you do not utilize a central air conditioner in summer, and your furnace is only responsible for heat, then you can leave the repairs be for a few months. This may be quite helpful to you if you cannot currently afford heating repairs to a furnace you will not be using the next five to seven months. When you are finally able to repair your furnace, you can repair it at that time. Just make sure you repair it before next winter starts.