Keeping vents cleared, filters clean keys to ensuring furnace can handle extreme cold

With the mercury dropping and sticking around the -30 C mark, people are giving their furnaces a full workload.

Jeff Serson, the owner of Able Plumbing and Heating, said people should be aware if they find their furnace isn’t keeping up with the demand.

“If you set the temperature at a certain amount and if it’s dropping about two or three degrees below that, you want to be looking at something,” Serson said.

He said one of the things people can do throughout the year is to ensure their furnace is ready for when the temperature drops this low.

Sercon recommended people check their filters and make sure they are clear.

“So that air can go through it. It wants air, it needs it, so let’s make sure that filter is clean so it’s not restricting at all,” Serson said.

“The next thing would be looking at those vents. Your high-efficient furnaces have nice plastic venting going out the side of the house most times. You want to make sure that that intake doesn’t get frosted up … If you see the frost in the trees, maybe go outside and check that intake pipe because it very well might be frosted up as well.”

Serson said his company has received double the amount of calls it would see during a less frigid week.

“Business is booming. This cold weather drives a lot of phone calls and a lot of questions,” Serson said. “A lot of people are calling in regards to their furnace just not keeping up and not being able to bring the temperature up in their house to make them warm and cozy.”

Serson also said if people are traveling in the winter, it’s a good idea to have someone check in on their home every couple of days to make sure nothing has broken.

“We had two (calls) last week where we had to go in and the furnace had quit. One of the houses was frozen solid and the other house was right on the cusp,” he said. “The first one, unfortunately, was an insurance claim.

Serson explained that when water expands, water lines may not be able to take it.

“So (in this instance) it split the waterlines, split a few toilets, and caused a lot of water damage once everything thawed,” he said.