Haven't used my home heater in 4 years (how much, furnace, vacuum)
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Just like us in Michigan when we finally turn our furnace on for a few months in Winter, just leave the house for a few hours while all that stuff burns off and the smell goes away. The only danger, is if you are allergic.
Or, you can call out a company that will clean your ductwork before you turn it on.
I live in an area where it doesn't get too cold or too hot, so we don't have an A/C unit and I haven't used my home heater in 4 years.
Recently it has been getting cold to the point where my wife who was the one dead set against using the heater is now thinking we should turn it on.
My question is, with the amount of lint build up in my vents would it be dangerous to just turn it on after all these years?
Put in a new filter and go for it....!!!! If it does have a lot of dust, change filters more often until the dust is gone. You could also get a profession duct cleaning crew to fix you right up...
I first read this as you haven't used your home theater in four years and wondered what that had to to with controlling temperature! Old age I guess....
I haven't used my heater in 8 years. Last time it was turned on was when I bought our place to make sure it was operable. Our place faces south so normally even in the winter it's reasonably warm. In the winter here a worst case scenario low temp at night would be in the high 40's. Winters here are usually sunny with highs in the 60's. I use the a/c maybe 7-10 times a year in the summer if it gets into the 80's. This is Southern California coastal zone weather and other places here have a different climate.
First of all lint comes from clothing so what you mean is dust.
It should not be a problem, but you should run the heat at least an hour or for a hew hours every year just to make sure it's still working. Same with the AC.
Sometimes the first while of the heat there may be a slight smell but it goes away.
I'm in south Florida so I don't need the heat too often so I have an oil filled radiator space heater in my bedroom and one in the kitchen. They take a long time to heat up, but once they get going they do the job. November had a few cold nights here. December was mild, January has had a few cold nights, one night it went down to 38 and with the windchill it felt 31, and the house got down to 55 so I did turn on the central heat for a while, but by the time noon comes around it usually gets closer to 60.
I wish I didn't have to use A/C every month, but it's a fact of life in south Florida and the odd days are when you need heat overnight and A/C in the evening. Anyway the cost of living in S FL is a lot cheaper than San Diego.
Definitely get any heating system checked out before using, but particularly if it is gas heat.
There was a story locally about a family who didn't use their gas central heat for a year or so (primarily used a wood stove). Decided to turn on the central heat to keep the cats warm before an extended trip...system malfunctioned and couple almost died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
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