My furnace is older so I’ve been diligently taking care of it for several years now.
I make sure that I have it serviced twice per year, I clean out the air ducts regularly, and I make sure that I’m setting my thermostat to an optimal temperature.
Because I know that my furnace is aging and becoming more fragile as the years pass, I do my part to pay attention to the way it’s running. This means that I pay attention to the amount of times my furnace kicks on and the air coming out of the air vents. I don’t go out of my way to track this activity, but I do pay attention to it when I can. I’m glad that I’ve gotten into this habit, because as I was sitting on my couch the other day, I noticed something different about my furnace. The airflow coming from the air vents was low. The air was still warm and it was still pouring into my house, but the airflow wasn’t as strong as it normally was. I called an HVAC professional immediately to diagnose the problem. After inspecting the entire HVAC system, the HVAC professional told me that I had a broken air handler. The air handler controlled the blower, which was why the airflow was low. Thankfully, the HVAC professional was able to repair my air handler and the air was back to flowing properly again. If I wouldn’t have paid attention to my furnace, it could have been weeks until I noticed this problem.