When a heating system malfunctions, it can be very inconvenient, but it is not quite the emergency that stopped-up plumbing can be. It is annoying, however, and you can and should take the necessary precautions to keep the system in operation. Most of the maintenance procedures should be performed during the summer or just before the heating system is turned on for the winter.
Heating systems are classified according to the fuel used (coal, oil, or gas) and the heat-carrying medium (hot water, steam, or hot air). Each type of furnace and each type of radiator or register has its own problems. You can do most of the maintenance jobs yourself, but you should have a professional clean out and adjust the furnace every year.
An oil furnace should be cleaned and adjusted before it is turned on in the fall. However, the best time to have it cleaned is in the spring or early summer at the end of the heating season. The soot that lines the inside of the furnace can mix with moisture in the air to form harmful acids which can corrode the metal in the furnace if left all summer. A professional should be called clean the furnace and pipes and adjust the burner. This is an important step, since if the ignition fires too soon, there will not be enough oil vapors in the furnace to burn, and if it is too late, there will be too much oil, with the danger of an explosion. Although you could probably clean the furnace yourself, it is a very dirty job, and since you will need a professional to adjust the burner, you might as well let him do the cleaning as well.
Other burners do not have quite the soot problem that an oil burner has, but they should be adjusted, too. For a gas burner, call your local gas company. For an automatic coal burner, your coal dealer can usually recommend someone.
Regardless of the type of burner, during the off-season you should shut off the main electrical switch. For a gas burner, you should also shut off the gas, including the pilot. Leave the furnace door open during the summer so that air will circulate. Don’t forget to close it when it’s time to start the furnace again. If you have an oil furnace, fill the oil tank at the end of the heating season so that it remains full during the summer. Otherwise, inner surfaces exposed to moisture in the air could rust.
Your professional repairman will oil the motors in your heating system as part of his job. You should add oil two or three times during the winter. Use medium-weight oil. The motors usually have oil cups or oil holes. Add two drops at a time until these are full. In addition to the main burner motor, don’t forget to oil the water pump if you have a forced hot-water system.
Your heating system must be kept clean to operate at maximum efficiency. Filters in a hot-air system, should be cleaned every month by brushing with a whisk broom and should be replaced every three months. Make sure that you have the correct size replacement filter, and install it with the arrow on the edge pointing in direction of the flow of air. Hot air registers should be vacuumed every fall just before turning on the heat. It is not necessary to do this during the heating season, as long as the filters are kept clean. Humidifiers on radiators should be cleaned every three months or so and kept full of water. Radiators should be vacuumed every two or three months, since the accumulation of dust, besides being unsightly, reduces the heat that is transmitted into a room. Also, in the fall, remove the cover of the thermostat and blow out any dust that might have collected there.
In hot water and steam systems, water should be added to the boilers to replace what had evaporated during the heating season. Do this in the fall just before turning on the heat. Water normally contains oxygen and other gases, which can be corrosive to pipes and the boiler itself, but fortunately these gases are driven off when the water is heated. If the boilers are refilled in the spring or summer, the oxygen in the water will not be driven off and can cause damage. If water is added inadvertently in the off-season, you should fire up the furnace to heat the water sufficiently to drive out the gases. Run it long enough to feel heat in any radiator and then shut it off. Sediment may collect in the bottom of a boiler and this should be drained off. Open the drain faucet at the bottom of the boiler. And let the water run until it flows clear. Then refill the boiler. This should be done in the fall just before turning on the heat.
Hot-water systems collect air in the radiators during the off-season. This air must be removed before the heat is turned on. This is done by bleeding the radiators. Open the small valve located near the top of the radiator, which permits air to escape. Hold a cup under the valve and as soon as water flows, close the valve, since the air is now out of the radiator. This should be done at every radiator beginning with those on the topmost floor and ending with the lowest. You should do this again in mid heating season.
The valve on a steam radiator is supposed to allow the trapped air to escape and to expand when heated so that the steam does not escape. These valves should be removed and cleaned in a strong solution of washing soda or trisodium phosphate (TSP). TSP can be purchased at hardware stores but is also available as the main ingredient of many commercial cleaning powders. Read the labels. After cleaning, replace the valves and adjust them with the radiators on so that they close when hot. The radiator should get hot quickly, but only a small amount of steam should come out before the valve closes.
Make sure that the main valves of all radiators are opened, that is, turned completely counterclockwise. Do not try to balance radiators by partially closing the main valves. These valves should always be completely open or completely closed. The air valves can be adjusted somewhat for balancing.
An important aspect of keeping a house heated is heat leakage. Heat can escape from a house in two ways. First there are actual leaks, that is, openings through which heat truly leaks to the outside. Openings around radiator pipes, open joints around windows and doors, especially under doors, and cracks in floors are common examples. Each opening may be quite small, but the total area of all the openings is frequently equivalent to keeping a window wide open all the time.
A second source of heat loss is conduction. The hot air inside the house heats a window or wall, and the heat is conducted through the surface to the outside. This is especially true on windows, as you can tell by feeling how cool a window feels in comparison with a wall, but there can be considerable heat leakage through uninsulated walls.
Heat loss through unwanted openings can be minimized by closing the openings. Doors especially should be weatherproofed by installing weather stripping. Openings around window frames and door frames should be caulked or otherwise sealed. One frequently overlooked opening is a fireplace damper. When the fireplace is not in use, make sure that the damper is closed; otherwise, a lot of heat goes up the chimney. If a fireplace is not used for long periods, you should cover the opening with a piece of plywood or wallboard to keep the heat. The board can be decorated to match the decor of the room.
To reduce heat loss by conduction through windowpanes, the best solution is to install storm window. Alternatively, you can keep blinds drawn or drapes closed as much as possible, but you then lose the function of a window, which is to see outdoors. When you install storm windows, you should carefully number each sash and each house window so that you can easily fit the proper sash to each window in the fall. Numbered tabs with raised numerals are available for this purpose and are much better than penciled numbers, since they can be read even if the sash is painted. Heat loss through walls can be minimized by insulating he house, which also helps keep the house cool during hot summer days.
An important part of your heating system is your fireplace; you should know how to build a wood fire. For ease in lighting the fire you should use three logs. Place the largest on the andirons toward the back of the fireplace, a slightly smaller log in front of it, and a third log on top over the crack between the other two. If you have no andirons, you can use ordinary bricks or pieces of large pipe. Place newspaper and kindling wood under the logs and light the paper with a match. Make sure that the damper is open. You may have to add more paper until the logs get hot enough to ignite, but if you use sufficient kindling wood, this should not be necessary.
Remove the ashes when a layer about three inches deep has accumulated. Subsequently forces can be built with ashes in the fireplace. However, as soon as the fire is out, close the damper, so that winds blowing down the chimney will not scatter the ashes into the room.
