Do I Need Heating Maintenance—In the Desert? (Yes!)

Do I Need Heating Maintenance—In the Desert? (Yes!)

To the rest of the world, Southern California is a vision of warmth. When you mention the desert areas of Southern California, places like Palm Desert, people can only imagine intense heat through most of the year, with maybe a touch cooling off to merely “very hot” during other parts of the year.

Why would a home need to have maintenance for its heating system in a place like the deserts of Southern California? There are a few reasons that, even in our hot climate, professional heating maintenance is an annual fall necessity.

Yes, it can get cool at night

During December, the days usually peak at a pleasant temperature in the high 60s or low 70s. This is ideal comfort weather for most people. However, going below 68°F is the point where people may start to feel cold … and the nights in December often get down into the mid-40s. You’ll definitely want some heat then. The annual temperature dips further in January before starting to rise again. Of course, there’s always a chance of a cold snap hitting and the temperature going into the 30s. You want to make sure you have a heating system that can handle such surprises.

Safety

No matter what part of the world you live in, if you have a central heating system for your home, it must have professional attention each fall to inspect its parts and clean it and tune it up to prevent it from developing safety issues. This is essential for gas-powered furnaces, which are the most common type of heating system in the country. Although gas furnaces aren’t inherently unsafe, they can develop major hazards if they’re neglected. Only a licensed professional is certified to work on a gas furnace.

Energy savings

A downside of not needing a heating system often in Southern California is that a heater tends to collect plenty of dust and dirt during long stretches of inaction. When the heating system actually needs to work, it will waste power because of this neglect. You don’t want to spend more to heat your home than necessary, and regular maintenance is the best way to see that your heating system—no matter its type—works at its most efficient whenever it has to do its job.

Equipment longevity

Replacing a worn-down heating system is expensive, and you want any heater in your house to last for as long as possible. A heating system can last on average from 10 to 20 years depending on the type: electric furnaces can endure the longest, while a heat pump will probably have a shorter lifespan. You can probably add on a few more years here in Southern California because of the reduction in stress. But without maintenance, a heater won’t make it to its estimated lifespan and will need to be replaced earlier.

We’re the Palm Desert, CA HVAC contractor to call on to schedule residential heating maintenance. Our maintenance program covers both air conditioning and heating. We’ll see that you have energy-saving performance, and safeperformance, from your heater during the short winter season. Contact us to hear more about our maintenance program.

Russell’s Heating & Air Conditioning is open 24 hours a day to serve your AC and heating needs in the Inland Empire and the Desert Communities.