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What Happens During an HVAC Tune-Up?

Posted: September 18, 2023

Maintenance Varies Depending on Your Type of System

The key to saving energy and money is improving efficiency! And when it comes to improving the energy efficiency of your HVAC system, one of the best things you can do is schedule an annual system tune-up.

This vital preventive maintenance service not only ensures that your system is running properly, it will also keep your boiler or furnace operating at peak efficiency. In fact, a tune-up can help reduce annual heating fuel usage by 5-10%!

A tune-up also allows our expert technicians to spot minor issues before they become big problems (worn parts, a burner that’s out of adjustment, etc.)
So, what actually happens during an HVAC tune-up? Since another heating season is upon us, we’ll limit this discussion to heating tune-ups, and delve into air conditioning maintenance at a later time.

First, the type of maintenance tasks we do depends on whether your heating system is a boiler or furnace. This is because the mechanical components are very different. As one example, a boiler uses a circulator pump to push hot water into your home’s piping. On the other hand, a furnace uses a motor to blow warm air through ductwork.

There are similarities, however. For example, all boilers and furnaces have either an oil or gas burner, which we need to check and adjust. The combustion chamber is another common feature. When our technician does a tune-up, he will inspect the combustion chamber for any deficiencies.

Heating Oil vs. Propane Gas Tune-Up Checklist

The tune-up checklist our technician follows will be different for a heating oil system as compared to a propane gas heating systems.
To give you a better idea, here is the tune-up checklist our technicians follow for heating oil systems:

  • test and adjust oil burner for maximum efficiency, using combustion testing equipment
  • inspect combustion chamber
  • oil all motors on burner, fans and circulators
  • clean and check electrodes and nozzle assembly
  • install air filters, supplying oil filter cartridge and burner nozzle, if necessary
  • check all safety and operating controls
  • check oil tank and oil lines
  • vacuum furnace and flue pipe, including chimney base (where accessible).

And here is the tune-up list we follow for propane gas heating systems.

  • clean and adjust thermostat
  • clean and adjust all safety controls
  • clean and lubricate burners and controls assembly
  • adjust burner for efficiency
  • check for gas leaks in the furnace
  • lubricate moving parts
  • check belts and adjust tension
  • check filters
  • check flue pipe, draft diverter and heat exchanger
  • check fan control
  • adjust pressure regulator
  • check furnace for fumes
  • check complete furnace operating cycle
  • clean and adjust pilot.

Service Plans: Added Protection

To make it easier to keep your heating system properly maintained, we recommend enrolling in a service plan. On the heating side, we provide our customers with a heating oil service plan, a propane/natural gas service plan and a heat pump service plan.

All of our service plans cover the cost of an annual preventative maintenance tune-up. Service plans from Wilson also include free parts and labor for many heating system repairs, priority service, no overtime charges, and a $75 annual credit that can go towards the purchase of new equipment from us.

Read about our service plan coverage.

Wilson Oil & Propane is the company that people in the Delaware Valley region of Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey can depend on when they need HVAC maintenance or HVAC repair of their heating systems. Our service area includes the towns of Media, Wallingford, Swarthmore, Springfield, Broomall, and Newtown Square.
We have the professional technicians who can handle all types of HVAC service, from annual maintenance to emergency heating system repairs to top-notch heating equipment replacement.

Become a Wilson Oil and Propane customer and start meeting The People You Can Trust.