Choosing a heating oil company to service your home? Be wary of discount providers masquerading as the real deal. What seems like a hot bargain could leave you in the cold.
At the end of the day, cutting costs is one thing, but cutting quality is another. You can’t afford to waste your time and dollars on an oil provider that cannot meet your demands.
A bottom barrel oil company might appear legitimate at first, but it won’t take long to realize that there are many perks you can only get from a reputable, full-service company like ours.
Today, we’re diving into a few of the top reasons why it pays to go with the best, especially when it comes to your family’s comfort.
Ready to learn more? Let’s get started.
How often do you think about your furnace?
If you’re like most people, not often. You might notice that it’s running on occasion, like when it kicks on in the middle of the night and all is quiet. But that’s probably it.
…until your furnace isn’t working properly. Which, of course, always seems to happen during the worst cold snap on record. Here in Pennsylvania and Delaware, it can be downright frigid outside for several months out of the year, so it’s not a pleasant thought.
Annual furnace maintenance will help to ensure that it doesn’t become downright frigid inside your house as well. Check out why it’s important and when you should schedule an appointment below.
Ready to learn more? Let’s get started.
What Is Annual Furnace Maintenance?
Just as your car needs an occasional tune-up, your furnace can benefit from annual furnace maintenance. After all, it works hard to keep you comfortable. Isn’t it nice to show it a little love once in a while?
You can do your own simple maintenance tasks like changing out the air filters every few months. But once a year, it’s important to have a professional take a look at your furnace.
The level of service will vary from company to company, so choosing a reputable one is important. Don’t base your decision on who offers the lowest-cost service.
A good technician will have a checklist of things to test, inspect, clean, or adjust on your unit. Some small adjustments can have a big impact on the efficiency of your furnace. When interviewing companies it’s a good idea to ask for their list to help you accurately compare.
If the technician found any components that are failing or not working well, they will offer recommendations about replacing or servicing them.
Why Is It Important?
You need oil to heat your home, but you don’t want to drain your pocketbook to get it.
When you team with a bottom-barrel oil company, you might not have any choice. These discount providers normally offer one customer pricing plans, not taking into account your individual usage rate.
Understanding this, we developed our Heating Oil Budget Plan to meet your financial needs and help you control costs. We’ll take a look at how much oil you used over the course of one year, and help you select a 10, 11 or 12-month budget that makes sense for your family.
The most obvious reason that annual furnace maintenance is important is to keep your furnace working. When it gets so cold that the Delaware Bay freezes over, the last thing you want is your furnace to malfunction.
However, there are other important reasons as well.
Safety
Carbon monoxide is a dangerous gas that can leak from a malfunctioning furnace. It is a byproduct of burning several different fuels including oil, wood, charcoal, propane, and gasoline. It is colorless, odorless, and tasteless, meaning that you can’t see it, smell it, or taste it (in the air).
However, you can feel the side effects of breathing it. Carbon monoxide poisoning is dangerous. If it is breathed for too long, it can lead to permanent brain damage or even death.
Symptoms to watch for include:
- Dizziness
- Shortness of breath
- Nausea or vomiting
- Confusion
- Headaches
- Blurry vision
If you notice any of these symptoms, get into fresh air as quickly as possible. Sleeping or intoxicated people are particularly at risk as they may not be aware of the symptoms in time. Elderly people, children, and unborn babies are also at particularly high risk as they may more readily develop brain damage.
The best defense is to always have working carbon monoxide detectors in your home and regularly have your furnace serviced to avoid malfunctions.
Save on Energy Bills
Proper maintenance can also help you save money on your energy bills. Dirty air filters, debris in the system, small repairs, and other problems can all cause your furnace to work harder than it should. This leads to using more fuel and running up your bill.
Save on Repairs
Small repairs that are ignored can often lead to bigger problems with the system. Bigger problems typically translate into a higher repair bill.
Regular maintenance and inspection by a professional can catch problems (or potential problems) before they even become big enough to affect your furnace’s function. This means they can catch them long before you even notice there is a problem, saving a lot of unnecessary wear on your system.
Extend the Life of Your System
Keeping your system in top working condition can also extend the life of your system by several years. Since replacing a furnace can set you back several thousand dollars, this represents significant savings.
Understanding this, we developed our Heating Oil Budget Plan to meet your financial needs and help you control costs. We’ll take a look at how much oil you used over the course of one year, and help you select a 10, 11 or 12-month budget that makes sense for your family.
When Is the Best Time?
When you call a team to deliver oil to your residence, you want them to take your request seriously. Yet, when you trust your home and equipment to a discount oil company, this level of skill and professionalism is often lacking.
It’s not uncommon for these providers to show up late or miss appointment times altogether. When you need oil, you shouldn’t have to wait all day to get it. Nor should you be subjected to poor service and inexperienced technicians once they do arrive.
On the other hand, our residential fuel delivery and HVAC service company is family-owned and operated. All of our staff members are well-trained, clean and reliable. Since 1984, we’ve hinged our reputation on quick, dependable support you can rely on.
So now we know what annual furnace maintenance is and why it’s important to keep up on it. When is the best time to do it?
The obvious answer is before you want to use it. However, what often ends up happening is that people don’t think about their furnace until the first time they need to turn it on in the fall.
Unfortunately, since that’s right about the time everybody else thinks about it too, getting an appointment with the HVAC company might be difficult.
To that end, be proactive. Schedule an appointment in early fall or even late summer to allow time for repairs if necessary. The company won’t be too busy yet and you’ll have your pick of appointment times, making it easier to fit into your schedule.
Better yet, you can sign up for a yearly service contract. You don’t have to remember to make an appointment, the company will take care of all your maintenance and refueling needs without you even having to think about it.
On the other hand, our residential fuel delivery and HVAC service company is family-owned and operated. All of our staff members are well-trained, clean and reliable. Since 1984, we’ve hinged our reputation on quick, dependable support you can rely on.
Looking for a Good HVAC Company?
It’s no secret that Pennsylvania winters can be excruciatingly cold. As such, demand for heating oil normally spikes during these months. Can your bargain oil company keep up?
Many lack the infrastructure to keep up with such fluctuations in supply and demand, and as such, run out of oil when requests soar.
Do you want to make sure your home stays warm and toasty all winter long? If so, it’s smart to invest in a full-service company that’s more than capable of meeting those needs. This way, you can be confident that even though the temperatures might drop, your oil levels never will.
Who better to trust with your family’s comfort than a family-owned company? From annual furnace maintenance to reliable fuel delivery, at Sperr’s we can handle all your heating needs. We make sure that all our staff knows their stuff and you can rest easy knowing that your furnace will be there when you need it.
Have more questions? Feel free to contact us! We love chatting with our customers and helping them keep their homes nice and toasty warm.
Do you want to make sure your home stays warm and toasty all winter long? If so, it’s smart to invest in a full-service company that’s more than capable of meeting those needs. This way, you can be confident that even though the temperatures might drop, your oil levels never will.
