{"id":667,"date":"2018-04-30T11:00:59","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T15:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/?p=667"},"modified":"2018-04-26T10:15:24","modified_gmt":"2018-04-26T14:15:24","slug":"shut-down-furnace-for-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/heating-service\/shut-down-furnace-for-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I Shut Down My Furnace for the Summer?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-668\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/susnshine-icon-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"sunshine-icon\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/susnshine-icon-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/susnshine-icon-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/susnshine-icon.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>You\u2019re probably happy to read this headline, because it means summer is getting closer and you\u2019re that much nearer to not needing your home\u2019s furnace at all. (At least until toward the end of the year.) But when the warmer weather settles in and the furnace won\u2019t have to run, should you shut the system down entirely?<\/p>\n<p>The answer depends on the type of furnace installed in your house. The main reason to shut down a furnace for the season is to avoid energy waste or possible safety hazards, and this isn\u2019t the same for all furnaces.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>The electric furnace<\/h3>\n<p>If you use an electric furnace, there\u2019s no need to shut it down because it won\u2019t use any power over the summer. In fact, the only way to shut down an electric furnace is to turn off the circuit breaker to the unit\u2014but this is also the circuit breaker for the air conditioner and the blower! Shutting off the electric furnace means you won\u2019t have any cooling. All you have to do to stop using the furnace for the season is \u2026 to stop using it!<\/p>\n<h3>The natural gas furnace<\/h3>\n<p>Older natural gas furnaces (ten years old or more) usually have a standing pilot light to ignite the burners. If your furnace has a burning blue flame on at all times, this is the standing pilot light. It consumes gas when it\u2019s on, so it wastes energy through long periods when the furnace doesn\u2019t have to work. We recommend you shut off the pilot light. Beside the pilot light assembly, you\u2019ll see a small valve. Turn the valve 90\u00b0 and the pilot light will shut off.<\/p>\n<p>Now there are some other steps to take with your gas furnace (even if it doesn\u2019t have a standing pilot light but instead uses electronic ignition).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Clear out the area around the furnace. Furnaces are often housed in garages, basements, or closets\u2014areas where people like to store things. You don\u2019t want piles of boxes or other items too close to the furnace because it can help the system gather extra dust and dirt over the summer. A clear area also makes it easier to access the air conditioner\u2019s cabinet.<\/li>\n<li>Change the HVAC filter. The last month or so of work the furnace has done has probably led to a clogged up filter. Change it for a new one so the AC gets a great start to its year.<\/li>\n<li>Walk around the rooms of your house and inspect all the vent openings. See that they are completely open and unblocked. Clean them off if they\u2019re dusty, since this will help with efficiency and prevent dust from getting into the return vents.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Something else important to remember: don\u2019t shut down a furnace if it has a malfunction. Arrange to get it fixed\u2014lingering problems can mean a much more expensive repair in the future. No matter the time of year, call us for <a href=\"\/heating\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">heating repair in Westfield, NJ<\/a> if your furnace isn\u2019t working correctly.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Air Creations, Inc.\u2014<a href=\"\/contact\/send-message\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u201cWe Do It Right!\u201d since 1987<\/a>. Call today for late-season heating or early season air conditioning service.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When the warmer weather settles in and the furnace won\u2019t have to run, should you shut the system down entirely?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[76],"tags":[121,107,49,50,89],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":670,"href":"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions\/670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aircreations.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}