Furnace service inspection (furnaces, AC, water heaters, appliance)
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How often should you have them done for a furnace that is now 2 years old? I haven't had one done yet but it was brand new when we bought the place 2 years ago
Furnace manufacturers all recommend annual inspections and maintenance by a qualified technician. Some HVAC contractors recommend getting newer furnaces checked every other year, but once they are over 10 years old, have them checked annually. The check isn't just about safety - it's also about preventative maintenance. It's about sometimes catching a problem before your furnace quits working in the middle of the night.
First 5-6 years with the new furnace and AC never had them checked out, ever since then I get the furnace checked every fall and the ac checked every spring. So far so good and both were put in in 94 or 95.
Assuming you are talking about a gas fired furnace and not a heat pump, you need to have it checked every year, The issue is not reliability, the issue is, will it kill you. You need to understand how one works. When the gas burner comes on, that heat/gases generated does not go into the house, it goes thru a heat exchanger so that the toxic carbon monoxide gases don't kill you. The air from the return air goes around the heat exchanger and picks up the heat and takes it inside the home. So there is no direct heat from the gas burner. However, the heat exchanger is subject to flame erosion and when it burns thru, you and your family are now at risk of being killed by carbon monoxide. That's why you have it checked every year. Here's a vid of a unit and from the looks of it, it's not old either. Take a look so you understand, this is not a place to save a buck.
A new furnace, especially a replacement project, should be given a good look by a very qualified technician who doesn't work for the installing outfit at least once early on. I see a lot of poor replacement installs that need corrections, so it isn't always just about maintenance. For new systems in my area, tract home system quality is much higher than what I see in custom homes. Undersized filter area and undersized ductwork are what I see most often. As stated previously, annual inspections are what the MFG specifies.
As for the scary CO stories, a modern furnace that's been properly installed is probably the least likely producer or pathway of CO. They produce little CO due to the inshot burners, work in a way that provides little opportunity to for the flue gas to actually reach breathable air, and have safeties that shut down the burner in the event of an irregularity. Gravity vent appliances such as water heaters, wall heaters, and old furnaces have an inherent danger due to the divert hood and atmospheric burners. A fouled atmospheric burner will be what increases CO production and the flue will be the path to the air source.
A "low level" CO monitor is much better than the ordinary monitor that you'll find at the home center. Ordinary monitor thersholds offer an unrealistic sense of security as they allow moderately high levels for long periods before any alert.
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