4 Parts of Your Gas Furnace a Heating Maintenance Technician Needs to Clean During a Service Call

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When the heat is rising to record-breaking levels, it can be really tough to stay cool. This summer, I found that my air conditioner had trouble keeping up with the temperatures. It wasn't that the AC wasn't working, it was just that I couldn't seem to get my house cooled down as much as I wanted. I worried that I would have to replace the whole AC system. Luckily, I have a good friend who works as an HVAC contractor. He took a look at my system and gave good news -- it didn't need to be replaced. Instead, he shared a lot of tips for helping my air conditioner work more efficiently, as well as some ideas to help supplement the AC and keep the house cooler. I'm using those tips to create this blog to share ways for all of us to keep cool on the hottest days.

4 Parts of Your Gas Furnace a Heating Maintenance Technician Needs to Clean During a Service Call

21 March 2022
 Categories: , Blog


Heating maintenance is important whether you have an electric or gas furnace. However, it's even more important when you use gas since the combustion process in the furnace creates carbon monoxide that could potentially harm your family.

By making sure your furnace is clean and operating properly, you can eliminate the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Here are important parts of your furnace a heating maintenance technician needs to check and clean.

1. The Flame Sensor

This is the small part that checks that a flame ignites the gas as your furnace starts up. If the sensor doesn't detect a flame, it shuts the gas down for safety reasons. The sensor can get coated with grit which makes it malfunction. When that happens, your furnace won't operate properly.

A heating maintenance technician can take the flame sensor out of your furnace and sand it down so it can detect a flame again. If the sensor is bad, the technician can put in a new one. It's a good idea to have the sensor cleaned during an annual service call before winter sets in.

2. The Combustion Chamber

The combustion chamber gets coated with soot and it needs to be brushed clean. Then the soot needs to be vacuumed out so the heating technician can examine the sides to make sure there are no holes or cracks. Holes or cracks in the combustion area or heat exchanger could lead to a carbon monoxide leak, so it's important to look for damage.

Cleaning the combustion chamber is important too because if soot keeps building up, it might puff out of the furnace and make a mess in your basement or house.

3. The Blower

The blower is a squirrel-cage fan that circulates warm air through the ducts. Dust accumulates on the blower, and when it does, the blower can be hard to spin or it might produce a low airflow.

Your furnace operates more efficiently with a clean blower, so the heating maintenance technician will probably pull the blower out of the furnace and scrub it clean. A blower can be a little challenging to clean due to all the small fins, but it's important to get all the dust out of the fan so it operates optimally.

4. The Burners

The burners in your gas furnace get caked with soot and combustion debris. The maintenance technician needs to remove the burners from your furnace and scrub them clean with a brush.

They may also spray the burners with compressed air to clear out flakes of debris so no parts of the burners are clogged. Once they're clean, the burners can be returned to your furnace and be ready for another winter of heating.