5 Tips for Protecting Your Furnace During Renovations:

5 Tips for Protecting Your Furnace During Renovations:

Whether it’s the middle of a deep freeze, or the hottest day of the year, there’s a good chance your furnace is working hard to keep you comfortable. If you’re bravely battling renovations in the winter, your furnace is most likely running consistently to keep your house warm. And during those spring & summer construction months, your furnace helps move the chilled air from your air conditioner throughout your home.

It’s important to consider your furnace while doing renovations, regardless of the time of year, to help protect it from damage. We’ve compiled a list of 5 simple tips you can use during your next home renovation to keep your furnace in tip-top shape.

Tip 1: Use an Efficient Furnace Filter

Your furnace filter is the main line of defense against dust and construction debris, so we recommend using a highly efficient filter during renovations. The higher the efficiency, the more likely it is it catch more dust and debris that is cycling through your venting system.

Tip 2: Check the Filter Regularly

Regardless if whether or not you choose to use a highly efficient filter, we recommend you check your filter regularly to ensure it doesn’t get plugged. A plugged furnace filter can create problems for your furnace, as it impedes on the ability for air to flow through your system. Often times, limited air flow through your furnace can cause mechanical breakdowns, resulting in costly repair bills. Today’s furnaces contain many electronic components, meaning they are also very sensitive to dust build-up.

Remember, your drywall dust may be the same colour as your furnace filter, so it’s important to closely inspect your furnace filter to ensure it isn’t plugged.

Tip 3: Filter the Cold Air Returns

Another step you can take to reduce the amount of debris travelling through your duct system is to put a filtration device over your cold air returns (larger vents on the wall). Keven recommends cutting up a small furnace filter and taping it over the cold air returns in the construction area. This is an extra line of defense for your furnace filter, helping to stop any large debris from entering your vent system. it is important to ensure air can still flow through these vents, as air will still need to cycle through the system for the furnace to work.

Tip 4: Cover the Hot Vents with Mesh

Similar to Tip #3, you can place a mesh cover over top of your heating vents to prevent any debris from falling through the vent cover into the duct system. Keven recommends using chicken wire, or whatever mesh material you may have around. Again, it is important to ensure air can still flow through these vents, as air will still need to cycle through the system for the furnace to work.

Tip #5: Keep the Job Site Clean

Cleaning as you go during renovations can have a profound impact or how clean or dirty your vent system gets. Regularly sweeping and vacuuming can remove big construction debris from the job site and reduce the amount of debris falling into your vent system.

After Renovations:

We highly recommend a professional cleaning of your furnace & vents following a renovation to remove any dust or debris that has accumulated during construction. Depending on the time of year and how often your furnace is running, it may be wise to wait a few weeks following renovations before booking a duct cleaning to allow all of the dust to settle.

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