Fall is the perfect time to make sure your home is ready for the colder months.
At Shemtov Systems, we treat every home like our own – with honest service, no upselling, and a real commitment to your family’s comfort and safety.
A fall HVAC tune-up prevents last-minute breakdowns, keeps your system running efficiently, and gives you peace of mind before winter arrives.
We’re a local family-run company trusted by Maryland families for reliable heating and cooling, year after year.
Book your fall check-up now and stay warm all season, with people you can truly trust.
Shemtov Systems: family values, professional service!
Key takeaways
- A heating tune-up is mainly a safety inspection: heat exchanger, venting, carbon monoxide.
- Maryland’s alarm law covers rentals and newer fuel-burning homes, not most older ones.
- A furnace idle since spring fails on dull faults: a filmed flame sensor, a plugged condensate trap.
- Below its balance point a heat pump runs on strip heat; long cycles and defrost are normal.
- If heat quits overnight, never warm the house with a gas oven, and protect exposed pipes.
What does a fall heating tune-up actually include?
The Department of Energy’s furnace and boiler guidance is a fair yardstick. Every system gets the vent pipe and chimney checked, plus the physical integrity of the heat exchanger. Forced-air work adds a crack check on the combustion chamber, a carbon monoxide test, fuel input and flame characteristics, blower control and supply-air temperature, blower cleaning and oiling, soot removal, and duct-joint sealing. Ask what a quoted furnace service covers.
Why does an idle furnace fail on the first cold night?
Nothing about a furnace improves while it sits. Over a humid Maryland summer a film forms on the flame sensor, so the burner lights and drops out seconds later. Blower bearings stiffen. A cracked ignitor finally opens. On a condensing furnace the condensate trap dries out, then plugs on the first run. Run the heat for an hour in early fall, while parts are still easy to get.
How do you know the heat exchanger is not leaking carbon monoxide?
Not by smell. The heat exchanger separates combustion gases from the air you breathe, and the Department of Energy warns that a leaking one mixes those gases into house air and can cause carbon monoxide poisoning. Cracks are not always visible, so a technician watches the flame as the blower starts and measures carbon monoxide in the flue and living space. An alarm is a backstop, not a substitute.
Where does Maryland require carbon monoxide alarms?
Maryland’s Public Safety Article covers rentals and hotels, plus dwellings permitted since January 1, 2008 that burn a fossil fuel for heat, ventilation, hot water, or a dryer. Rentals have needed an alarm outside each sleeping area and on every level, basement included, since April 1, 2018. Older owner-occupied houses often sit outside it, so follow the CPSC: battery backup, every level, outside sleeping areas.
How does a heat pump behave differently in a Maryland winter?
Every heat pump has a balance point, the outdoor temperature where its output equals the house’s heat loss, which DOE puts well below 40F for code-built homes. Below it, electric strips cover the gap at roughly 3,400 Btu per kilowatt-hour against 10,300 for a 10.3 HSPF unit, now labeled as a lower HSPF2 number. Defrost cycles are normal; strip heat in mild weather is not. DOE says many controls fire the strips on any thermostat change over three degrees.
What should you do if the heat fails overnight?
Call it in; the 24-hour answering service takes no-heat calls at 240-355-3333. Do not improvise heat: Ready.gov says never heat a home with a gas stovetop or oven, and to run generators outdoors, at least 20 feet from windows, doors, and attached garages. Then the plumbing: pipes in crawl spaces, garages, and exterior walls freeze first. Open cabinets under sinks on outside walls, let one faucet drip, and find the main shutoff.
Frequently asked questions
What can I check myself before calling?
Thermostat batteries, the switch from cool to heat, the service switch, and the breaker. Then the filter: the EPA treats MERV 13 as a floor, capped by what your blower and slot can pass. See our thermostat settings guide.
Why does my furnace smell like burning dust on the first run?
Summer dust burning off hot metal; it usually clears within an hour. A lingering smell, or an electrical, oily, or gas odor, is different: shut the system down and read our signs your HVAC needs repair guide.
What are the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning?
The CPSC lists headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, sleepiness, and confusion, easy to mistake for a winter bug. Get everyone outside to fresh air, then call 911.
Should I switch a heat pump to emergency heat when it gets cold?
No. On an all-electric system it locks out the compressor and runs only costly strip heat. Save it for an outdoor unit that is dead or iced solid.
To book heating service in Silver Spring, Olney, or anywhere in Montgomery County, call Shemtov Systems at 240-355-3333. Book the inspection before the first freeze, not after it.