Heating
Furnace Tune-Up and Maintenance in Oakland County
A fall furnace tune-up finds worn and dirty parts before the cold does. Our family-owned crew cleans, tests and inspects your furnace, shows up on time and tells you plainly what we found. No sales pitch comes with it.
Tell us what it is doing. We will tell you straight what happens next.
- Family-owned for 7 years
- We arrive when we say
- 100% satisfaction guaranteed
A furnace tune-up that is more than a quick look
A furnace tune-up should be more than a flashlight and a new filter. A proper one takes the covers off. The burners and flame sensor are cleaned, the electrical readings are measured, the safety controls are tested and the heat exchanger and vent are inspected. That is the furnace maintenance Maverick Heating and Cooling has done in Oakland County homes for 7 years.
We are a family-owned business with a crew of four, and honest work is the whole point of this visit. If your furnace is in good shape, we will say so. If something is worn, we show it to you, explain what it means and give you the price before anything is fixed. The visit is backed by our 100% satisfaction guarantee.
What to watch for
Signs your furnace is due for a tune-up
A yearly visit is the rule. These are reasons not to put it off.
Nobody has opened it in a year
Dust settles on the burners and a film builds on the flame sensor whether the furnace seems fine or not. Many winter no-heat calls start with a part that was already dirty in the fall.
You just bought the house
A furnace inspection tells you the age and condition of the furnace you inherited, and what to expect from it before the first cold week.
It ran rough last winter
A rattle that came and went, short run times or a room that lagged behind are easy to forget by spring. Tell us about them. A tune-up is the time to track them down.
Dusty work has been done indoors
Drywall sanding, floor refinishing and sawdust load up a filter fast and settle on the blower and burners. After a renovation, have the furnace cleaned and checked before winter.
It lights, quits and tries again
A furnace that fires, shuts down after a few seconds and retries often has a coated flame sensor. Cleaning it is part of a tune-up, and far easier than a no-heat visit.
A smell, soot or a yellow flame
A little burnt dust on the first run of the season is normal. A smell that keeps coming back, soot or a yellow flame is not. Shut the furnace off, leave it off and call. If anyone feels unwell, get outside and call 911.
What we do
What our furnace tune-up includes
This follows the ENERGY STAR maintenance checklist for heating equipment, with the furnace cleaning and safety checks that belong with it.
Thermostat and controls
We check the thermostat settings and watch the furnace start, run and shut down in the right order.
Electrical connections and motors
Loose connections are tightened, and the voltage and current on the motors are measured. A motor drawing more current than it should may be on its way out.
Burners and combustion
The burners are cleaned and the flame is checked for a steady blue burn. We check the gas pressure and the gas connections at the furnace.
Igniter and flame sensor
The igniter is tested and inspected for cracks. The flame sensor is cleaned so it can prove the burners are lit and keep them lit.
Heat exchanger inspection
The metal wall between the flame and the air you breathe is inspected, as far as it can be seen, for cracks, rust and hot spots. A sound one keeps combustion gases out of the house.
Blower and moving parts
The blower wheel and housing are checked and cleaned as needed, and parts that call for lubrication get it, so air moves freely and quietly.
Safety switches
The limit switch, the pressure switch and the flame rollout switches are checked. These are the parts that shut a furnace down when something goes wrong.
Venting and flue
The vent pipe or flue is inspected for blockage, leaks and loose joints, indoors and where it leaves the house.
Condensate drain and filter
On a high-efficiency furnace the drain line and trap are checked and cleared. We check the filter and tell you the size and type to keep on hand.
When to get a furnace tune-up in Oakland County
Once a year, in the fall. In Oakland County, Michigan the first frost usually arrives around the middle of October, so September through early November is the window. Anything we find then can be fixed on a mild afternoon. If fall has already gone, do not wait a year: a furnace inspection in December still covers the rest of the winter.
The cooling side has its own visit in spring. If you have central air, our AC tune-up covers the outdoor unit and the coil, which a heating visit does not.
If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds
Get everyone outside into fresh air and call 911. Do the same if people in the house feel sick and you suspect carbon monoxide. If you smell gas, leave right away without touching switches, then call 911 and your gas utility from outside. Call us after the house has been cleared, and we will find the cause.
What furnace maintenance prevents, and what it cannot
A tune-up stops the breakdowns that come from dirt and slow wear: flame sensor shutdowns, igniters that fail on a cold start, blower motors that overheat behind a dusty wheel, blocked condensate drains. It can also help a furnace reach its full life, which is typically 15 to 20 years.
It is not a promise that nothing will ever fail. A part can pass every test in October and still quit in February. What a yearly visit changes is the odds, and how much warning you get. If we find something serious, we will tell you whether it is a furnace repair worth making or whether the money is better put toward a new furnace.
Furnace maintenance you can do yourself
The most useful maintenance happens between our visits and takes a few minutes. None of it involves opening the burner compartment. Leave that, the gas valve and the wiring to us.
- Check the filter every month in winter and change it at least every three months
- Fit the filter the right way around, with the arrow pointing toward the furnace
- Keep supply registers and return grilles open and clear of furniture and rugs
- Keep boxes, paint and laundry away from the furnace so it has room to draw air
- After snow, check that the plastic intake and exhaust pipes outside are not buried
- Test your carbon monoxide alarms and replace any that have passed the date on the label
Carbon monoxide and your furnace
Burning gas can produce carbon monoxide. In a healthy furnace the exhaust stays inside the heat exchanger and leaves through the vent. Trouble starts when a vent is blocked or loose, the burners are not burning cleanly or the heat exchanger has cracked. Those are the things a furnace safety inspection looks at, and it is why the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends a professional inspection of fuel-burning appliances every year.
An inspection is one layer of protection and alarms are the other. Carbon monoxide has no color and no smell, and the early symptoms feel like the flu without a fever: headache, tiredness, nausea, dizziness. No tune-up replaces a working alarm.
How it works
How a tune-up visit works
Call and pick a day
Call 248-930-2080. Tell us the age of the furnace if you know it and anything it has been doing that seems off, and we will agree on a day and time.
We arrive as agreed
We show up when we said we would. All we need is a clear path to the furnace and a few minutes of yours to hear how it ran last winter.
Cleaned, tested, inspected
The covers come off and we go through the full list: burners, flame sensor, igniter, heat exchanger, blower, electrical readings, safety switches, drain and vent.
A straight report
We tell you what we found, in plain English. If a part is worn, you see it and hear the price before any repair. If the furnace is healthy, that is the whole report.
Why Maverick
Family-owned, on time and honest for 7 years
Family-owned
A family business with a crew of four, in business for 7 years.
On time
You planned your day around us. When we give you a time, that is when we are at your door.
Honest work
We show you what is wrong and tell you the price before we start. If a small fix does it, we say so.
100% satisfaction guaranteed
We stand behind every job. Your satisfaction is guaranteed, 100%.
What is included in a furnace tune-up?
A proper one covers the whole furnace. We check the thermostat and the start-up sequence, tighten electrical connections and measure the motors, clean the burners and the flame sensor, test the igniter, check gas pressure and the flame, inspect the heat exchanger, clean and check the blower, test the safety switches, clear the condensate drain and inspect the vent.
Is a furnace tune-up really necessary?
It is worth doing once a year, though a furnace will often run for a long time without one, which is why people skip it. The cost shows up later: a fouled flame sensor that shuts the furnace off in the coldest week, or a dusty blower that can make it run hot and wear early. There is a safety reason as well, because a yearly check is when a blocked vent or a damaged heat exchanger gets found.
How often should a furnace be serviced?
Once a year, ideally in early fall. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends a yearly professional inspection of fuel-burning appliances, and ENERGY STAR advises a heating checkup each fall. The filter is the exception: that needs a look every month while the furnace is running.
How much does a furnace tune-up cost in Oakland County?
We do not print prices here, because furnaces differ, but you will know the price of the tune-up before any work starts. Call 248-930-2080 and ask. If we find a part that needs replacing, that is separate: we show you the problem, give you the price for the repair and you decide whether to go ahead.
How long does a furnace tune-up take?
It varies with the furnace. A newer unit that has been serviced every year goes faster than an older one that needs a thorough furnace cleaning, and a high-efficiency model has a drain and extra parts to check. We can give you a fair idea of the time when you call.
Does a tune-up check for carbon monoxide?
It checks the things that cause it. We inspect the heat exchanger, check that the burners are burning cleanly and make sure the vent is clear and tightly joined, because those are the places a carbon monoxide problem begins. It does not take the place of alarms. A furnace can develop a fault months after a visit, so keep working alarms on every level and outside each sleeping area.
Can I do furnace maintenance myself?
Part of it, yes. Changing the filter, keeping registers and returns clear and clearing snow from the outdoor pipes are homeowner jobs, and they matter. Cleaning burners, testing safety switches, checking gas pressure and inspecting the heat exchanger are not, because they involve gas and live electrical parts. The same split applies to heat pumps, which our heating services page covers.
Keep reading
Related services
Other work we do alongside furnace tune-up.
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Heating
Furnace Repair
No heat, cold air, short cycling or strange noises. We find the real cause and fix it right.
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Heating
Furnace Installation
A new furnace sized to your house by calculation, installed carefully and tested before we leave.
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Cooling
AC Tune-Ups
A real spring tune-up: outdoor coil cleaned, parts tested, drain cleared, charge checked.
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Heating + cooling
HVAC Maintenance
A heating check in fall and a cooling check in spring. One-time tune-ups, nothing to sign up for.
Where we work
Furnace Tune-Ups across Oakland County
We are a family-owned crew of four serving these communities and the towns around them.
- Troy
- Rochester Hills
- Royal Oak
- Southfield
- Farmington Hills
- Novi
- Waterford
- West Bloomfield
- Pontiac
- Bloomfield Hills
- Birmingham
- Auburn Hills
- Clarkston
- Lake Orion
Do not see your town? Call 248-930-2080 and ask, or see our full service area.
Too hot or too cold?
Call the family that shows up
On time. Honest about the problem and the price. 100% satisfaction guaranteed.
248-930-2080Maverick Heating and Cooling · Family-owned · Oakland County, MI