If you’re like the majority of homeowners in our area, then a natural gas furnace is your system of choice to warm up your home during a chilly winter. Sure, our winters may be relatively mild compared to Midwest and some East coast residents, but that doesn’t mean the contrast in temperatures doesn’t get to us—we need a fully effective and efficient heater in our homes, right?
Gas furnaces are definitely the way to go for most of us—they produce a large amount of heat and do so at less expense than their electric-powered counterparts since natural gas costs less than electricity per unit.
However, it’s important to note that any natural gas appliance has the potential to develop safety issues—particularly aging systems that haven’t had proper maintenance each year. A well-maintained gas furnace will give you very little to worry about, and no gas furnace is inherently dangerous, but proper care is vital.
Why’s this? Because without proper care, an aging and ill-maintained furnace may end up with a cracked heat exchanger!
February is the last full month of winter—but we still have plenty of cold, rainy days ahead of us even through the spring. It’s important not to neglect your home’s furnace at this time of year. You may feel tempted to let apparently minor problems go without attention because you’ll soon be running the furnace less. This is a mistake, since any minor problem that isn’t fixed can start creating major problems. And the original minor problem may only be the tip of a bigger malfunction you haven’t detected yet.
Gas furnaces are not automatically dangerous devices. This is something we want to clear up right away so you won’t feel panic just because your home has a natural gas-powered furnace for heating. However, like most powerful appliances or any appliance that creates combustion gases, a furnace can potentially create health hazards if it isn’t maintained regularly or repaired as soon as symptoms of a malfunction appear. Treat a gas furnace well and you should have few worries about its performance.
How do you heat your house during the winter? If we had to make a guess, we’d choose a gas furnace every time. Gas furnaces are the most common type of heater found across the country, thanks to their powerful heat output, easy availability of fuel, and energy efficient performance.
With few exceptions, all modern homes use electricity. But when it comes to home heating, electricity isn’t always the top choice. Natural gas, piped in through municipal lines, provides power to gas furnaces that are fast and effective at heating up a home during the winter. However, the option always exists to have an electric furnace instead. Furnaces are a flexible type of heating system, with different models using a range of energy sources. That’s why it’s easy for 
