Gas Heating Stove Maintenance Tips
The subject of gas stove maintenance is not a complex one for the homeowner. In fact, gas heating stoves are among the easiest appliances in a home to keep running well and looking good.
This doesn’t mean a free-standing stove will take care of itself – a few things are required of you and your stove service technician.
Here are the gas stove maintenance tips you need to know.
What to do
Your part of maintaining your gas stove is pretty simple:
- Wipe down the firebox periodically to remove any burn residue.
- Keep a working carbon monoxide (CO) monitor near the appliance. CO is invisible, odorless and potentially fatal to humans and animals, so a monitor is the best way to know if your stove releasing this gas through inefficient burns.
- Become familiar with your stove and hand-test its different parts to ensure that nothing is loose.
- Generally be aware of any change in your stove’s performance.
Difference between gas stoves and wood stoves
The main difference between maintaining these two types of appliances is the professional cleaning required with a wood stove. This is because wood smoke creates a substance called creosote, which is highly flammable and is the cause of most chimney and vent pipe fires in the U.S. each year.
A gas stove burns its fuel very cleanly, leaving no creosote and soot residue that you’ll have to deal with. As noted, a basic periodic wipe-down is about all you’ll need to do.
Annual gas stove inspections
As with any kind of stove, fireplace or fireplace insert used as supplemental heating in your home, gas free-standing stoves need an annual safety inspection. This work should be performed by a licensed stove and fireplace technician who is familiar with your model of stove.
The tech will focus on three main areas:
- The soundness of all the stove’s working parts
- The gas line connections
- The stove’s venting and burning efficiency
These inspections don’t take very long, but they can save you a lot of hassle and expense down the line by spotting problems and getting them fixed before they get out of hand. A good gas stove inspector can perform all needed repairs following the inspection.
Annual chimney inspections also can save your life and your home by detecting draft blockages and damaged or dirty burners that cause the gas fuel to not fully ignite. As mentioned, inefficient burns lead to excess production of deadly carbon monoxide. Your CO monitor will alert you to this occurrence; your stove technician can help keep it from happening.
If you’ve been enjoying a gas heating stove in your home for more than a year without a safety inspection, now is a good time to schedule one. With annual inspections, you’ll be able to gain all the amazing benefits these appliances bring and know that your stove is running safely and at peak efficiency all winter long.
Hudson Valley Chimney of Poughkeepsie, NY, provides licensed professional service of all models of gas heating stoves. Call us for yearly inspections and all your stove repair needs. Get your questions answered or arrange an appointment at (845) 471-1071.
