Do you feel that? That cold, frigid air has snuck down out of the northern Arctic and is beginning to make its presence known throughout Toronto and Ontario. The moment that you first feel the cold bite of winter, you’re probably turning on your home’s heating system. But do you know whether or not that furnace and heating system is going to work properly throughout the entire winter?

When was the last time you had your furnace serviced? Far too many homeowners throughout Toronto and all of Canada simply cannot answer that question off the top of their head. If you can’t answer that right away, then it’s probably been far too long.

Even if you had your furnace serviced two years ago, but aren’t quite sure whether it was two or three years ago, that means you didn’t have it serviced this past spring or yet this fall. Your furnace should be maintained and serviced at least once every year.

There are several good reasons for this.

The first is that there are several components on any furnace -regardless of whether it relies on natural gas, home heating oil, or another fuel- that can fail if they’re not replaced in time. If a component fails, your furnace will stop working.

Try calling an HVAC company during the heart of winter to get your furnace repaired. You are probably going to have to wait at least several days if not weeks, depending on the backlog of other calls from homeowners who didn’t have their furnace serviced the previous fall.

When the furnace and heating system in your home fails during a cold spell in winter, it can place you and your family in danger. It can also pose a significant risk to your entire house. The water pipes in your house can freeze if your heating system fails. When they freeze, they will expand and can crack. When they thaw out, you could have a flood in your basement or elsewhere in your house. That can cost a tremendous amount of money on top of the repair bill for the furnace.

Don’t let this happen to you. Call an HVAC company today to have your furnace serviced so that you will be sure that you’ll stay warm throughout the winter this year.