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Important Furnace Parts

AirZone HVAC Services offers furnace repair services in Ottawa and the Valley for thousands of homes each year. We keep our service vehicles stocked with the most common repair parts in order to complete timely repairs often without a second visit. Our stocked parts work with a variety of different furnace manufacturer’s heaters. This allows us to be brand neutral and get you up and running quickly. Consider AirZone HVAC Services for your furnace maintenance in Ottawa to avoid costly heater repairs.
In order to help our customers understand how a furnace works, please see the most common (and important) furnace parts defined below.

Gas Furnace Parts:

Blower Motor – A blower motor is a fan in the furnace that distributes the warm air throughout the home. Different blower motors have different speeds and power. A higher end blower will operate more effectively pushing warm air to rooms that are the furthest away from the furnace (the longest distance travelled through the ducts). Blower motors can also be responsible for a lot of the noise that you hear when your furnace is running. Blowers with different available speeds (such as two-stage or variable speed) have many benefits including quieter operation especially when running at lower speeds. Variable speed blowers are best at providing precise temperature control and offer additional energy savings.

Heat Exchanger – The heat exchanger is the heart of your furnace. It provides the heating element within the unit. The blower passes air around the heat exchanger which warms the air before it is circulated through your home. Within the heat exchanger is where the combustion of fuel occurs. The combustion heats the metal walls of the exchanger resulting in a hot part. The combustion gasses are cooled and exhausted out of your home for safety reasons. These gasses contain carbon monoxide which can be deadly within a residence. Heat exchangers are the number one reason that furnaces receive a red tag (a safety tag deeming the unit inoperable). They can develop cracks which allow dangerous exhaust gasses to escape. It is highly recommended for safety reasons to have your furnace heat exchanger inspected on a regular basis to ensure no cracks have developed and that it is safe to operate the furnace. This is especially important if your furnace is over 10 years old!

Burners – When a furnace is triggered “on” by a thermostat, the burners receive fuel and are ignited resulting in a flame within your furnace. This flame is used for combustion within the chamber resulting in a warm to hot heat exchanger depending on the temperature set on the thermostat.

Hot Surface Ignitor – The hot surface ignitor is used to light the burner flame. It is typically an electrically controlled plate that heats up very quickly so that when fuel passes around it the fuel is ignited. This part is a necessity for furnace operation. If the furnace is not igniting correctly it will go into lockdown mode to prevent gas from being dispersed within your home or exhausted through the system.

Flue – Think of the flue in a fireplace chimney. It allows the smoke and gasses to escape through the chimney when it is open, and prevents air from entering the home when closed. A furnace flue works in the same manner. The furnace flue opens when the furnace needs to exhaust combustion gasses from within the heat exchanger and closes when the furnace is not in operation.

Return Ducts – Within a forced air heating/cooling system there are return ducts to return the cooled air within your home. In Ottawa, these return ducts are often located within the floor or in the wall close to the floor. Since cold air falls, the return ducts bring the cooler air back to the furnace to be reheated. This air is then re-circulated throughout your home after it has completed the furnace heating cycle.

Supply Plenum – This is the primary duct attached to the furnace. It is the first point of entry for warm air from the furnace. The air is then distributed throughout your home via the warm air ducting.

Furnace Air Filter – The furnace filter provides filtering of many things including particulates in the air before this air enters your furnace. The air is passed through the filter before furnace entry resulting in cleaner air within the heating system. This is important not only for keeping the internals of a furnace clean, but also to ensure the indoor air quality within your home is at an acceptable level. A furnace filter must be changed regularly to ensure proper furnace operation. A clogged filter makes your furnace work harder to pull air through it. This results in a strain on the heating system and higher utility bills along with a reduced lifespan of the furnace product. It also results in a lowered indoor air quality within the home.

After learning about all of the furnace parts we home that you understand how important furnace annual maintenance is for homeowners in the greater Ottawa area. Annual furnace maintenance not only extends the lifespan of your furnace and saves you money on your utility bills, it also offers a safety measure to ensure that issues such as a cracked heat exchanger are not present within your system. Carbon monoxide is a dangerous gas that can enter your home harming you and your loved ones. We encourage you to have your furnace serviced annually regardless of which dealer you choose (please make sure that you choose a qualified HVAC dealer to ensure expertise and quality inspections/repairs).

AirZone HVAC Services specializes in furnace repair, furnace maintenance, and new furnace installation. We offer 24 hour emergency furnace services in Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley. We encourage you to contact us if you have any questions about the parts mentioned in this article or if you would like to learn more about our services. We are an A+ rated BBB member and maintain a high review ranking in Google, Facebook, and many other reputation management sites.

author avatar
Taylor Lewis Vice President
Taylor Lewis is a highly accomplished HVAC professional with over a decade of experience in the industry. He graduated from Queens University, and since then has dedicated his career to the field of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.
Ottawa Furnace Repair Contractor

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