Spring cleaning is something we all need to do around the home. Whether it’s reorganizing rooms, figuring out what to donate, or just giving everything a thorough scrub, a good cleaning can improve your quality of life. But it’s important to look below the surface when it comes to spring cleaning. One area that’s often overlooked is your heating systems. This oversight can lead to system inefficiency, expensive repairs, or worse, days without heat or hot water. So, let’s look at the problems associated with not keeping your heating system tuned up, what the solutions are, and the benefits of performing regular maintenance.  

The Problem

Just like you perform regular maintenance on your car—be it an oil change, getting a tune-up, or rotating your tires—it’s essential to perform upkeep on your home’s heating system. If you don’t, you risk putting it under undue strain, potentially leading to much higher heating costs and even complete failure. And that’s not the worst of it. If you don’t manage it properly, you are putting your health at risk because a poorly maintained heating system has an increased potential for fire, or if it breaks, you might face frigid temperatures inside your home. Then there are other issues like oil spills, exhaust fumes leaking into the house as well as problems with your boiler. When an issue arises with your heating system, there is likely to be a high demand for services as others face similar problems. This can translate into longer than usual wait times and more expensive service—certainly nothing you want to deal with, especially if it’s the dead of winter.  

The Solution

The best way to avoid problems with your heating system is through an annual checkup. A regular upkeep effort will entail inspection of all major components, including the boiler, furnace and/or hot water tank, oil burner, oil tank, and various other parts supporting your heating system. Additionally, the annual maintenance includes replacing the oil tank filter, strainer, and nozzle at the burner and air filters and cleaning the interior of the boiler or furnace. Through this maintenance, your system will be optimized once the first blast of winter comes around. While it may seem strange to do it when the weather is getting warmer, this is precisely the right time to do so because there’s less demand for service. You’ll have greater flexibility when it comes to scheduling. Additionally, if you require larger, more time-intensive repairs, this won’t mean you’re living in a cold home for days at a time.

The Benefits

The expression “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” applies to many things, including your home heating system. Regular maintenance can improve your heating system’s overall efficiency while burning less oil. Additionally, it can decrease the likelihood of major issues such as oil tank, hot water tank, and boiler or furnace failure. Of course, regular service can potentially increase your system’s lifespan.     When it comes to dollars, having your heating system tuned up makes a lot of sense. It’s estimated that with routine maintenance, you can save upwards of 10 percent on your annual fuel costs. Those savings are even greater if you upgrade your entire infrastructure—something you should consider if it’s over 15 years old. Experts project that you’ll save approximately 25 percent of your average fuel spend with a modern heating system. Acorn Oil has been serving communities across Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts for over 20 years. We’ve always been family-owned and operated, ensuring you’ll get the attention and customer care you expect. But we’re more than just a heating oil company—we’re a full-service provider for all your heating system needs, including maintenance and installation. We work to ensure your home heating system runs at peak performance, so come wintertime, you’ll be ready to keep your house warm and comfortable. Give us a call today to schedule your annual heating system maintenance. You’ll be glad you did.