Is annual furnace servicing a gimmick?

[Rogar]

The last couple of years I've gotten calls promising discounts for annual inspection and servicing of my furnace. They are from a reliable local company, and I've paid a little less than a hundred dollars to have them come out in the fall. They change the filter, which I can do, and then seem to run a bunch of tests and do a little cleaning, but really never find or fix anything.

I've noticed the local news seems to do a little blurb in the fall advising this also. I have a wood burning fireplace insert to heat the house in an emergency, and wonder if this is money well spent or overkill?

I'm a relatively new homeowner and still learning a few of the ropes.

[Wildflower]

We have a newer furnace and central air conditioning. They are about 3 years old. Ever since we bought them the company that installed them contacts us a couple times a year to do an inspection on them just to make sure everything is working correctly. While I understand how that might be beneficial, I don't have a couple hundred dollars to shell out yearly for basically nothing. Didn't do it with our orginal heating and cooling system, and we only had a problem with it once in 20 years. We change the filter faithfully and so far haven't felt the need to pay anyone to inspect something that is seemingly working just fine....

[Yppej]

My comments pertain to oil furnaces without any inserts. I've heard of people who don't do cleanings and eventually when a problem occurs and the furnace is opened black soot spews out all over the basement making a big mess. I had a pump go out on my furnace once - had been having issues for awhile having to manually restart it - and repairperson said it should have been caught at inspection/cleaning time, but I was going with a lower cost vendor who wasn't as thorough. I would have been better off paying more for the cleanings vs. overtime rates when the furnace went out after hours in the middle of winter. I think for a comprehensive annual check you would have to pay more like $150. If you are paying less than $100 you probably are not getting a very good cleaning so no wonder it doesn't seem like it's worth it.

[goldensmom]

I don't know if annual furnace cleaning is a gimmick or not but we don't have it done. We had our 40 year old furnace cleaned once. The furnace guy changed the filter, removed a side panel and vacuumed the dust, both of which my husband or I can do. We replaced that furnace 5 years ago. We check the dust and change the filter when needed. Maybe it depends on the furnace.

[CathyA]

We have a closed loop geothermal furnace, which probably requires a little more checking. We have them service it twice a year....Fall and Spring. (maintenance agreement) It costs $144 for 2 servicings. That's pretty good because if something went wrong with it, it would cost at least that much for 1 visit. I think the geothermal is more complicated though........tubes of fluid going in and out, pressures to check, connection to the hot water heater, etc. If I had an electric furnace/a.c. I would be sure to change the filter fairly often and have it checked every couple of years.

[Zzz]

Are they checking for gas leaks? If they are monitoring for gas leaks, then these tests could save your life if they do find one.

I've had relatives who had carbon monoxide poisoning from a gas leak. I also had the furnace tested here when I bought this house. The inspection included testing the furnace for gas leaks. Guess what? It was a good thing...the furnace was leaking gas but none of us could smell it...

[CathyA]

That's why its important to have CO detectors.

[Zzz]

Yes. However, we were fortunate in catching our leak before we even moved in due to a spectacular inspector in our purchase process. He even came back and did a reinspect of the furnace for free for us to make sure it was safe. (This was not something he had to do...he wanted to ensure our safety.) I'm not sure what happened with the relatives situation because they did have carbon monoxide detectors. Perhaps the levels were too low for the detectors to pick up. It was a low level of ongoing carbon monoxide poisoning -- enough that it made them ill but did not kill them. They believe it had been going on for some time by the time they discovered it.

[Simpler at Fifty]

I think it is money well spent. We have ours inspected every other year. As it gets older we will go to an annual inspection. We have the person that installed the furnace do the cleaning. He also checks the air conditioner. DH changes the furnace filter once a month. We have a carbon monoxide detector and were told by the fire dept they should be changed every 7-8 years. We change the batteries on the smoke alarms every 12-14 months. We check them every other month.

[Glo]

When we installed a new furnace 3 years ago, the installer said it did'nt need a yearly check; said to be sure to change the filter twice a year.

[puglogic]

Ours is about 10 years old and we have it serviced every other year. He does the filter, lubricates moving parts, vacuums, checks the thermostat, and checks for CO.

In a couple of years I'll probably switch to an annual service. This is the kind of maintenance I don't mind paying for. I could learn to do all of that myself, but I don't care to in this instance.

Be sure to get a second opinion if anything major is found. There are a lot of scam organizations touted by our local news program's commercials - we had one come out one year and he tried to sell us a new furnace.....found some corrosion in the heat exchanger.....blah blah blah....very dangerous. Two second opinions said he was full of it.

[chord_ata]

The heat exchanger is the part that does need to be inspected. They develop cracks (silently) over time, allowing CO to get into the ventilation system (and your house).