Before You Turn On the Heat This Fall — Check These 5 Things

What to do before turning heat on starts with airflow. When air can't move through a furnace, a safety switch cuts the burners, and the most common reasons it trips are a dirty filter and blocked vents. This video covers five things to check: the filter, the vents, the carbon monoxide alarm, the thermostat, and the smell the first day the heat runs. In this video: how to tell if a furnace filter is dirty with a lamp, which way the furnace filter arrow goes, why a dirty filter makes a furnace shut itself off, how to change a furnace filter and how often, why the thickest allergy filter can choke a furnace, why you shouldn't close vents in unused rooms, what to do when furniture sits on a vent, where to put a carbon monoxide detector, why a carbon monoxide detector chirps every 30 seconds, carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms, whether cranking the thermostat heats the house faster, whether a burning smell is normal when the heat first comes on, what a rotten egg smell means, how to close a furnace filter gap, and why no one should bypass a furnace safety switch. If you're about to turn the heat on for the first time this season, your furnace keeps shutting off, or your carbon monoxide alarm won't stop chirping, start here. Hold the filter up to a lamp: if light shines through, it's still working; if it's gray and you can't see the bulb, it's done. The arrow on its edge has to point toward the furnace. With the system off, read the size printed on the old filter's edge, check the filter once a month, and change a regular one-inch filter every one to three months. A basic filter costs about $10, and a whole year of them costs less than the cheapest furnace repair. Keep boxes, paint cans, laundry and anything that can burn at least three feet from the furnace. If some rooms never get warm enough, skip the thickest allergy filter: a furnace pro with 30 years in says a MERV 13 or 14 filter is restrictive, almost like putting in a dirty one, and for most homes a plain pleated filter does the job. Keep furniture off vents and return grilles, and don't close vents in rooms you never use: shutting too many chokes the airflow like a dirty filter. Put a carbon monoxide alarm in the hallway outside the bedrooms and one on every floor, press the test button, and check the date on the back. After seven to ten years these alarms chirp every 30 seconds, a new battery won't stop it, and the sensor can't detect the gas anymore. Carbon monoxide has no smell, and poisoning feels a lot like the flu: headaches, nausea, dizziness. If an alarm goes off for real, get everyone outside first, then call 911, and keep snow from piling up around furnace vent pipes on an outside wall. Cranking the thermostat to 90 won't warm the house any faster; you just get an overshoot and a bigger bill. A dusty burning smell on day one is normal and should fade within a few hours; if it doesn't, or it smells like hot plastic or wiring, shut the furnace off and call a pro. A rotten egg smell is gas: leave the house first, then call your gas company from outside. ⏱ CHAPTERS 0:00 What to do before turning on the heat: 5 checks 0:25 Is your furnace filter dirty? Lamp test and arrow direction 0:52 Why a dirty filter makes your furnace shut off 1:31 How to change a furnace filter and how often 2:04 Is a MERV 13 filter too restrictive for your furnace? 2:34 Blocked vents and closing vents in unused rooms 3:07 Where to put a carbon monoxide detector 3:20 Why a carbon monoxide detector chirps every 30 seconds 3:49 Carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms: what to do 4:14 Does cranking the thermostat heat the house faster? 4:37 Burning smell when the heat first turns on: is it normal? 5:08 Furnace filter gap and heat pump filters 5:30 Furnace keeps shutting off? Don't bypass the safety switch 5:52 Before you turn on the heat: all 5 stops Today: pull your furnace filter and hold it up to a lamp. Can you see the bulb through it? 👉 Which stop did you need most, 1 to 5? #furnace #furnacefilter #homemaintenance