Spokane’s first hard freeze usually arrives in October — and every year, that first cold night produces a wave of no-heat calls from furnaces that haven’t run since March. An hour of prevention in September beats all of it.
What you can do yourself
- Change the filter. A summer of dust chokes airflow and trips limit switches — the most common cause of “it blows cold then shuts off.”
- Run the heat for 15 minutes on a mild day. Burning-dust smell for a few minutes is normal. No heat, short-cycling, or a dead system is your early warning — while schedules are still open.
- Clear the vents. Sidewall intake/exhaust terminations need a foot of clearance from shrubs, debris, and — later — drifting snow.
- Test the thermostat and CO detectors. Fresh batteries in both.
What a professional tune-up adds
Burner and flame-sensor cleaning, ignitor resistance testing, blower amp-draw and capacitor checks, heat-exchanger inspection, gas pressure and combustion analysis, and a full carbon-monoxide safety check — $89–$139, and it catches the small failures while they’re still cheap.
Book the September slot if you can: (509) 555-0163.