What you need to know before calling a heating pro

It can be particularly stressful when your heating and cooling systems show signs of trouble. Thankfully, some of these signs point to problems that you can fix yourself. Here's what you need to know before calling a heating pro.

• The simplest (but most important fix) for heating problems is to double check if your furnace is switched on.

• If you're not getting enough heat, check your furnace filter.
• One of the most common causes of insufficient heat or cooled air is a plugged furnace filter.
• You should change inexpensive woven fibreglass filters once a month or buy a better-quality pleated filter and change it every three months to avoid heating and cooling problems.
• Another common cause of cold rooms during seasons in which you need heating is a blocked cold air return.
• Make sure that your couch or an area rug isn't covering a cold air return vent.
• If one of these vents is blocked, it can slow the entry of heated air into the room.

• If you live in an area with snow and have a furnace that vents out through a side wall, make sure the vent pipes aren't plugged with frost or snow.
• Plugged vents cause the furnace to shut off automatically.
• Switch off the power to your furnace to reset it once you've unplugged the vents
• To turn off the power, you'll have to either turn off the switch located on or near the furnace, or flip the circuit breaker that controls the furnace.
• Wait a minute, then switch the power back on.

Try these tips before calling a heating or cooling pro, and you might be able to save some money and time.