Cleaning Your Oil Furnace

Oil furnaces require more maintenance than other types of furnace such as gas. By taking good care of your oil furnace you can make sure it lasts much longer. The life expectancy of your furnace will be prolonged if you clean it each and every year. It is not a difficult job but it can be messy.

The first thing to do is to disconnect the power supply. You will then need to remove the burner assembly which is where the electrodes are located. In order to get instructions specific to your furnace you should check the user manual. The next thing to do is to replace the nozzle with a new one making sure that the spray pattern is still the same.

Any oil or soot can then be removed from the assembly by giving it a complete wipe down. You will need to replace any insulators of the electrodes if you find any erosion or cracks, when you inspect them. Make sure that you position and gap them before inspecting. In order to make sure that this is done properly and to prevent the risk of fires or explosions, you will need to buy a special tool.

You will also have to wipe down the oil pump, air passages, transformer and its electrodes and the cage on the combustion blower. You can restart the furnace again once you have put it all back together. It should start instantaneously and very quietly

Cleaning your oil furnace will help it to last longer but only if it is done correctly. If you want to do it yourself you will find instructions on how to carry out this job in your instruction manual. If you are at all worried that you will not be able to do this right, you can hire a professional to come and service and clean your furnace annually.

Heating ones home in the cold months of winter can cost a fair packet. Fuel such as electricity and gas show no signs of coming down in price. Clever people are switching to heating oil as a fuel though. And when this happens they have to ensure the tanks re always full of heating oil to make sure they don’t run dry in the cold weather.