Maintenance & Tune-Ups guides
Plain-language maintenance & tune-ups guides for Greater Seattle homeowners — how the equipment works, what fails, and how the local decisions play out. No pitch, just answers from a shop that's been here since 1938.
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What does a professional HVAC tune-up actually include?
A real tune-up is an instrumented inspection — not a clipboard walk-through. On a furnace that means combustion analysis, heat-exchanger inspection, and safety-control verification; on cooling equipment it means coil condition, refrigerant behavior, and electrical measurements (capacitors weaken measurably on a meter months before they strand you on a 95°F afternoon). Drains get flushed, airflow gets checked, and you leave with a written record of what was measured. If the visit is fifteen minutes and a filter swap, it wasn't a tune-up — and in Greater Seattle's long runtime season, that distinction shows up in your repair bills.
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When should HVAC service happen — and what gets checked in each season?
The rhythm is simple: heating equipment gets serviced before the heating season (early fall), cooling equipment before summer (spring). Heat pumps, which work year-round in Puget Sound's mild-but-long seasons, ideally see both visits because the heating checklist and cooling checklist genuinely differ. The Seattle wrinkle is scheduling, not physics — the first cold October week and the first hot June week jam every shop's calendar simultaneously, and the well-maintained home is the one that booked in September and April while calendars were still open.
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HVAC filters: which one, which way, how often?
Three answers cover most HVAC filter questions: the size is printed on the old filter's frame (photograph it before the store run); buy the highest MERV your blower maintains airflow with — for most 1-inch slots that's MERV 8–11, with higher capture via a 4–5-inch media cabinet rather than a denser 1-inch pleat; and in Seattle's long October-through-May heating season, check monthly and change every 1–3 months. The airflow arrow always points toward the blower.
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How do maintenance records protect my HVAC warranty?
HVAC coverage stacks three layers: the manufacturer's parts warranty (commonly 10 years registered — often just 5 unregistered), the installer's labor coverage, and the installer's workmanship guarantee (ours is 60 days on repairs). The parts layer is where maintenance records matter most: manufacturers expect documented professional maintenance when claims arrive, and the service record — dates, measurements, what was found — is your evidence that the equipment was cared for, not neglected into failure.
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Ready to decide?
Once you understand the how, these guides walk the actual decision — trade-offs, Seattle-area cost context, and the questions to ask any bidder.
Prefer to just ask a person?
Call the shop — a real maintenance & tune-ups answer beats an hour of reading.
Ready for comfort you can count on?
Whether it's a furnace that quit on a cold morning or a whole new system, the Glendale team is ready. Honest pricing, expert work, and 87+ years behind every visit.
Hours & Emergency
- Mon–Sat: 8:00 AM – 7:00 PM
- Sun: Emergency On-Call Only
- Emergency line: (206) 243-7700