By Chris Buchanan • July 27, 2018

5 Reasons You Need an Annual Heating Oil Tune-Up

If you live in a cold climate, you depend on your furnace in order to keep you, your family, and pets warm during cold temperatures. No matter how often you use your furnace or oil burner, you need an annual tune-up for a few other important reasons like your family's safety. And best of all, a yearly tune-up will save you money in a number of ways.
Here are five of the top reasons to get a tune-up once a year.
 
Proper Airflow
In order to have a furnace or oil burner that runs properly and supplies quality heat, it needs proper airflow. According to Home Guide:
It impacts not only the amount of warm air emitting from registers in living spaces of the home, but it affects the quality and degree of heat.
Sometimes it is as simple as a dirty filter but in other cases, an annual tune-up can pinpoint duct work with leaks, a defective blower fan, or a problem with an evaporator coil.

Save on Future Repairs

Routine maintenance is imperative in order to catch problems such as the ones stated above. An emergency repair can cost double or more of what it would cost to simply have your furnace serviced each year; not to mention that you do not want to be without heat having to wait on someone to show up to fix it. Surprise repairs are costly and usually come at the worst possible time but you can prevent that better by using a tune-up.
While the technician is performing maintenance on your furnace, he will look for parts that may need replacing and those that have wear and tear. While he is there, he can replace those parts which helps ensure that you don't have an issue that you are not aware of. 
Although you’ll be charged for the cost of parts, replacing parts is usually much cheaper than dealing with a major repair or even boiler replacement.
 

Increase Energy Efficiency

The furnace burner and heat exchanger are just two of the areas typically serviced in a tune-up and these are important to your unit's energy efficiency. Not only does this give you peace of mind that your unit is working properly, it also saves money by increasing the efficiency overall.
 

Maintain Your Warranty

If you have a unit that is still under the manufacturer's warranty, you will want to get the annual tune-up to maintain the warranty. Often, the companies or manufacturers require that your furnace or oil burner have regular maintenance so that the warranty is not voided. Not only does the tune-up fulfill their requirements, it helps you out as well, which is a win-win situation.
 

Safety Matters

A furnace that is not working properly is a safety hazard. For instance, carbon monoxide can reach critical levels if there is a leak in the system and in the most dire of circumstances - fire or an explosion is possible with a gas leak. This is just one of the things that a yearly tune-up can locate if there is a problem.
With a properly maintained furnace or oil burner, you can have many years of heating when you need it most. Replacing a furnace isn't cheap so why not ensure that yours is working to its ultimate performance with a yearly tune-up?
Another way to save money and find the best price for heating oil is with Slick Energy. The combination of finding low-cost heating oil along with a well-maintained furnace saves you time and money.