The Top 4 Dangers of a DIY Furnace Tune Up

When you’re working with a budget, it’s only natural to want to save as much money as possible, especially when it comes to expensive household ventures like heater maintenance and repair. This has led to a rise of websites hosting DIY heating inspection instructions across the Internet, making this knowledge available to more people than ever before. However, it’s worth noting that DIYing your inspections and repairs has a high chance of costing you more money than it saves in the long run and may even promote unsafe, highly hazardous conditions within your home.

Learn why DIY inspections aren’t the great solution you might think, and how Herrmann Services, a heater repair company with decades of experience in the Cincinnati area, can keep your furnace on the right track in the coming years.

4 Ways DIY Can Go Wrong

Performing your regular heater inspection yourself doesn’t just have a chance of losing you some serious money in the coming years, but can lead to a host of other problems as well. DIY heating inspections might seem like a good idea at first, but the truth is that taking these matters into your own hands has a high probability of going wrong in a wide range of dangerous ways as well. Some of the most common of these include:

1. Fire Hazards

Regardless of whether you’re using a gas or electric heating system, there’s always a chance for fire, especially as components wear out and safety measures become less effective. Faulty wiring and gas leaks are the leading culprits and can be difficult to spot if you don’t know what to look for and where to look. Furthermore, examining issues such as these yourself could lead to a serious electrical shock or gas poisoning. To keep your home safe, ensure you’re having a professional check on your furnace regularly to avoid these unsafe conditions in your home.

2. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Carbon monoxide is a bigger threat to households around the world than you might think. In fact, the Center for Disease Control estimates that 430 people in the United States die from carbon monoxide poisoning and that an additional 50,000 people visit emergency rooms due to complications from CO poisoning each year. Leaks in fuel-burning gas furnaces are a leading culprit for these poisonings. Because the gas is both colorless and odorless, installing a carbon monoxide detector in your home is a great way to mitigate the damage, but the best way to protect your home and family is to ensure no leaks occur in the first place. Unfortunately, leaks can be difficult to detect by someone with untrained eyes, which is precisely why you should trust your inspection to a professional, trained technician who knows the signs.

3. Small Problems Become Bigger

Usually, large furnace breakdowns don’t just happen out of nowhere. They’re typically the result of small issues being overlooked or ignored and becoming worse over time. Even if you’re following a DIY guide to understanding what issues you’re checking for, a lack of training could cause you to overlook existing problems, leaving them to ripen into larger issues that are far more expensive to repair later on. This is the main reason that DIY projects don’t necessarily end up saving you money. Something as simple as a dirty blower wheel could lead to serious furnace issues later on. Trained professionals can spot even small issues to repair them before they can become expensive and extensive.

4. Loss of Warranty Coverage

The vast majority of furnaces come with warranties that often span several years. However, opening up the system and doing your own inspection has a chance of voiding this warranty because any of them require professionals to handle internal repairs. Voiding your warranty could have serious financial repercussions down the road, especially if you find yourself with a complete heater failure on your hands or other expensive repairs that your warranty would’ve otherwise covered.

When in Doubt, Trust the Experts!

Your furnace isn’t the place where you want to start relying on guesswork to save money. Rather than cutting corners, trust the pros for your inspections instead. When you invest in an inspection by a trained professional, you’re investing in:

• Safety for you and your family
• Inspections that adhere to federal law and EPA regulations
• Confidence that your furnace is running smoothly
• Lower repair costs in the long run
• A higher overall resale value

Instead of simply guessing at the status of your furnace’s various parts with the limited knowledge you have, trust the expert technicians at Herrmann Services to get the job done for you. We are a family-run, family-owned business that’s been servicing furnaces of all types throughout neighborhoods in the Cincinnati area for over 20 years. We bring all of this experience to the table with every inspection to ensure you’re getting nothing but the best in terms of efficiency, effectiveness, and safety from your heating system. We’ll even go above and beyond and extend our services to your humidifier during the inspection to ensure it’s working properly.

Why Choose Herrmann Services?

Simply put, our team of professionals is the best Cincinnati has to offer. With decades of experience and a bond with the community we’re dedicated to maintaining with superior work, excellent communication, and unmatched integrity, we ensure the job gets done the right way every time. Contact Herrmann Services to learn more about what we have to offer and the tune-up specials we provide to homeowners throughout our coverage area. Your home’s comfort and safety are Herrmann Service’s top priorities.