Tips to make sure your furnace is ready for cold weather

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – This is one of those weeks where you’ll be going all out from short sleeves to sweatshirts on the same day.

This also means that your oven may be working for the first time.

Our furnaces and air conditioners are things we rely on to work when we need them. Needing both on the same day puts a little extra stress on the system.

No one wants to wake up in bed shivering, but this is the week when you have to think about the temperature in the house and anticipate the need for the furnace.

“You should always check your furnace filter because it will probably be sitting in there, for most people, most of the summer,” says Rocco Florio of Air Pro Heating and Cooling.

The filters are relatively inexpensive, Florio says.

“Disposable filters? You get a set of six for about $20.”

But Florio says a clean filter is crucial.

“The heating process is affected by this dirty filter more than anything else. It will actually shut down your furnace because it peaks at max, which means there’s not enough air moving through the return to push through the furnace. So, it will,” Florio said. Close your oven.”

Speaking of turning your furnace on and off, Florio says to check your thermostat.

“Try it before it cools down. Make sure it goes from cooling to hot. And it works.”

Since the coming days will be warm enough for daytime air conditioning but cool enough for nighttime heat, you may want to set your thermostat at different points during the day.

“I recommend, this time of year, setting the oven to 70 degrees in the evening,” Rocco said.

But then, if it doesn’t automatically switch to cooling, switch it to the air conditioning setting when you leave in the morning so it’s the right temperature when you get home.

“It wouldn’t be a bad idea to schedule an oven cleaning and inspection now because we check all functional parts when we do it.”

Florio also suggests you look into a WiFi-connected thermostat, which you can control from your phone like our First Alert meteorologist Ron Smiley does. That way, you can make sure your home’s temperature is where you want it when you get home.

What about the long-held belief that you’re supposed to set the thermostat and leave it alone?

Only if you don’t have an automatic cool-to-heat-to-cool thermostat. Then yes, adjust it every day, depending on the forecast.