Protecting your heating system during the winter is important to make sure the season is enjoyable and not a chore to slog through. No matter how new, durable, or well-maintained your heating system is, it can still malfunction and require repairs to get it back to providing your home with warmth. Furnaces, boilers, heat pump, and geothermal systems can all need professional repairs.

Fortunately, no matter what trouble you have with your heating system in Coeur d’Alene, WA, you can access help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from ACI Northwest. Don’t hesitate to make the call if you encounter any of these signs that heating repairs may be necessary:

Strange, unexpected noises

If you’ve lived for at least a year with your heating system, you will know the sorts of sounds it makes during regular operation. An interruption to this sound routine often indicates a repair need. A rumbling boiler; a groaning furnace; a loudly clicking heat pump. Since these odd noises can come from a number of different sources, call for professionals to diagnose the issue and find the best way to repair it.

Spikes in your heating bills

A heating system can begin to malfunction without showing any outward signs that anything is amiss: you’ll still get the same level of heat you expect. However, these malfunctions will make the heater work harder to provide this regular service—and this will show up on your power bills. Pay close attention to your bills so that a sudden leap will warn you when you need to call in professional heating repair.

Uneven heating

If you heater was properly sized during installation (and if you relied professional, licensed installers, it should be), then you can expect it to spread the warmth evenly through the rooms of your home. If you begin to discover cold rooms while the heater is running, it often means trouble developing in the ducts, the heating elements, the refrigerant coils, or the zone control thermostats. Call for help to find out what’s behind the poor heating.

The complexity of modern heating systems makes them difficult for amateurs to investigate (and occasionally dangerous). It’s often impossible to guess what is ailing a heater, so turn to licensed and trained experts from a company like ACI Northwest for your repairs. We work on many types and brands of heaters, and we can assist you with your heating in Coeur d’Alene, WA this winter.

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The winters in Idaho are some of the most ideal in the country: mild, yet picturesque, a perfect middle ground. But the winters are still cold enough that you need a dependable heating system in your home to help you get through to spring. Although the technology of modern heaters probably makes them less prone to breakdowns than what you grew up with, there are times when they’ll need the work of a trained technician to get them back to their full potential.

When you start to experience changes in the heating level of your home, or hear strange noises coming from your furnace, heat pump, or boiler, it might indicate you need professional repair. We’ll go through a few signs to look for and what they may mean for your heater. If you need to call in experts in heating in Coeur d’Alene, ID, look to ACI Northwest and our 24/7 service.

If your heater won’t turn on, it isn’t necessarily a problem that requires repairs: it might be a simple user error issue, such as an incorrectly set thermostat. Always check to see that your heater is connected to a power source, and that none of the circuit breakers have been tripped. If you find uneven heat levels throughout your home, the problem may come from blocked vents or poor insulation.

However, if your heater makes odd rattling noises when it tries to turn on, then the source is most likely a problem within the heater that requires repairs. For furnaces this might be a cracked heat exchanger, in which case call for professional assistance immediately, especially if you have a gas-powered furnace. Other noises that indicate professional repair needs are clicking in the furnace cabinet (likely worn out motor bearings), a rumbling in the boiler water tank (possibly overheating from sediment build-up or an excess of cold water), and grinding (the blower motor’s fan belt might be broken).

Uneven heating that you can’t solve with the basic troubleshooting above can indicate a heater that is losing power from wear and tear. There are many reasons for losing heating ability, and determining the cause on your own is difficult. Get consultation from a professional Coeur d’Alene, ID heating specialist, who will locate where the problem is, whether it’s hard-to-spot boiler leaks or thermostat malfunctions, and find a way to repair it.

A good motto when it comes to heating issues is: “When in doubt… get trained help.” Ignoring possible faults could lead to a full breakdown, or at the very least an expensive repair. Trying to fix a potential problem without the proper skills or tools can cause damage to your heater—and possibly damage to yourself. Don’t guess when it comes to your heating in Coeur d’Alene, ID: let the professionals at ACI Northwest put their experience and resources to work for you.

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In towns like Coeur d’Alene, heating units need to be reliable. Our rainy Northwest winters make furnaces and heaters an absolute necessity, and you don’t want to have it fail on you and wait for a repair person to arrive all the way from Spokane. It pays to assess your 2013-2014 heating options before the cold weather sets in, then consult with a professional as to the best way to implement it. That way you can be assured of reliable heating when you need it the most.

Your precise options depend on your home and the unique circumstances you’re living in, but probably boil down to one of the following three situations:

• Continue with your existing furnace. In most cases, this is probably what you need. Your furnace works fine and just needs a little upkeep to function as it should. In this case, you should probably call a service technician to make a routine maintenance call: cleaning the unit and looking for any little problems that can be addressed with preventative care.
• Your existing furnace needs upgrades. Upgrades aren’t always necessary, but they can help your furnace function more efficiently, and possibly save on your bills in the process. For instance, you could exchange your old thermostat with a newer digital model that includes automatic turn-on and turn-off features. That way, the furnace would turn off automatically when you go to work and turn on again when you come home, saving you considerable money in monthly energy bills.
• You need a new furnace. If your existing furnace is more than 15 years old and/or is struggling to do its job, a new unit may be in order. The U.S. Department of Energy recommends finding a furnace with the EnergyStar sticker, which can save you up to 15% in monthly bills. Over time, that can help offset the initial cost of installation.

If you live in Coeur d’Alene, heating services should be a priority before the winter starts. ACI Northwest has Coeur d’Alene heating experts on hand to handle your heating and air conditioning needs. Give us a call today; we can spell out your 2013-2014 heating season options in the clearest terms, then install a new unit (or help maintain the existing one) with courtesy and professionalism.

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