Updated on Oct. 22, 2025
With fall officially here, it’s important to take some steps to maintain your heating system to ensure it’s in proper working order and can efficiently heat your house. There are a few basic furnace or heat pump maintenance tasks that you can safely do yourself. However, all of the most essential tasks should be left to a professional to avoid potential damage and ensure the heating system is properly maintained. Good preparation now goes a long way toward keeping your home warm and your energy bills under control when the temperatures drop.
Replace or Clean the Air Filter
When turning your heating system on for the first time, you should first replace or clean the air filter. Dirty air filters negatively impact heating performance, leading to issues like increased energy usage and a higher risk of breakdowns. That’s why it’s important to check the air filter regularly throughout the winter and never go longer than 90 days without replacing or cleaning it.
Check and Clean Supply and Return Air Vents
Another thing you should make sure to do before turning your heating on and running it regularly throughout the winter is vacuum or wipe down all of the supply and return air vents and make sure they are all open and unobstructed. Clogged or closed vents contribute to decreased heating performance, higher energy bills and uneven temperatures across the house by preventing the HVAC system from circulating air properly. If you don’t regularly clean the return vents and keep the area around them free of dust and debris, it can also result in the air filter clogging more quickly and needing to be replaced or cleaned more frequently.
Make Sure the Area Around Your Furnace Is Clear
If you have a furnace, you always need to make sure the area around it is clean and clear of items and debris. Keeping the area clean helps keep dust and debris from getting drawn into the furnace and potentially clogging the burners and blower. Making sure there aren’t any items near the furnace is important for avoiding potential fire hazards. It also ensures that the furnace receives sufficient airflow and that the burners produce as much heat as they should. If the burners aren’t receiving enough air, it can lead to potential carbon monoxide risks as well.
Clear Debris From Around the Heat Pump
If you heat your house with a heat pump system, you need to make sure to keep the area around the outdoor unit clear of leaves and debris. Whenever it snows, you need to shovel a 2- to 3-foot path around the unit as well. The reason these tasks are necessary is to ensure that the fan constantly draws in enough air. If the airflow is restricted, the system won’t be able to heat the house nearly as well. Airflow also helps ensure the inside of the unit dries out fairly quickly whenever it snows or rains to prevent issues with rust and corrosion.
Schedule Professional Maintenance
Professional maintenance holds the key to ensuring effective heating performance throughout the winter and avoiding issues like breakdowns, unnecessarily high energy bills and potential safety hazards. Scheduling yearly fall maintenance for your furnace or heat pump can also have a major impact on how many years of life you get out of it before it fails and needs to be replaced.
With any type of central heating system, one essential task is cleaning and testing the blower. A dirty, malfunctioning or worn-out blower can’t circulate air properly, leading to the system heating slowly and not heating the house evenly. Another concern is that the blower may overheat, which can potentially result in a fire due to wiring overheating.
Other crucial tasks when maintaining a furnace include cleaning the burners, flame sensor and igniter and testing that all of the switches and safety sensors still function properly. Dirty burners result in the furnace not producing as much heat and wasting more energy. Cleaning and testing the flame sensor and igniter helps to avoid issues that can lead to the furnace not turning on or quickly shutting off. Professional maintenance also involves inspecting the exhaust flue and heat exchanger, which is crucial for preventing carbon monoxide from escaping into the house.
Two of the most important tasks, when maintaining a heat pump, are cleaning the evaporator coil inside the house and the condenser coil in the outdoor unit. These coils always get dirty over time. If not cleaned regularly, they can lead to a sharp drop-off in heating performance and a major decrease in energy efficiency.
Work With the Experts
For over 40 years, TS Heat & Air has been providing quality, dependable heating services to homeowners in Bethany and the OKC Metro area. Our experienced technicians can service all brands of furnaces and heat pumps and are ready to see to all of your heating maintenance needs. If you need any repairs or are looking to upgrade your home’s heating system, we can take care of that as well.
To schedule maintenance and get your heating system ready, contact us today so that your home remains comfortable and your bills are manageable all winter long.
