Should You Shutdown Your Furnace for the Summer?

Early spring isn’t a time of year to take risks with your home heating. Yes, the arrival of spring does mean that warmer weather is inevitable. But March, April, and even June are notoriously unpredictable when it comes to swings toward the cold weather and even freezing weather. Your household furnace needs to stay ready to get to work whenever you need it for the near future. (This is one of the reasons we always strongly recommend our customers never skip furnace service Woodland Park, CO at this time of year; always stay prepared in spring.)

This does bring up an important question, however: when the summer does arrive and you know you won’t need your furnace for the next couple months, instead relying on your AC, should you shut the furnace down completely?

What type of furnace do you have?

The type of furnace in your home is a major part of the choice of whether to shut it off for the summer. If you have an electric furnace, then there isn’t much debate: the furnace won’t use any electrical power when it isn’t running, so you don’t have to worry about wasting power. Electric furnaces don’t have the same safety concerns as gas furnaces, so keeping it on isn’t a potential hazard.

If you have a gas furnace, shutting it off may be an energy saver and give you peace of mind about how safe the unit is. For an older gas furnace with a pilot light, we recommend shutting it down to avoid energy use: turn the furnace off at the furnace switch (the dedicated breaker for the unit) and turn off the gas line. For modern furnaces that use electronic ignition, the concern with gas waste is minimal, but you may still wish to shut off the furnace and stop the gas flow as a safety precaution.

Do you anticipate any need for the furnace in the summer?

We can use the average highs and lows for Colorado Springs to help answer this question. The lows from June through September are usually in the 50s, and if you have a well-insulated home, this probably won’t require you to turn the furnace on during the summer at all. However, you know your own home better than we do. If you have found your house occasionally gets too cold on summer nights and just putting on warmer clothing isn’t sufficient, then by all means keep the furnace ready to go. For most homes, we think the furnace can be shut down without much worry.

What is your comfort level in summer?

We talked about the regional temperature, now let’s talk about a smaller temperature range: your personal comfort levels. People don’t experience temperatures in the same way. If you’re accustomed to cooler temperatures and don’t mind having a slightly colder edge to your indoor environment (and you often find your home feels stuffy), you probably won’t need the furnace operating. But if you get cold easily, keep the furnace on standby in case. If it isn’t a gas furnace with a pilot light, you won’t waste a significant amount of power.

Rely on the experts at Peak Home Performance for your furnace services: Guaranteed Comfort and Affordability.