It has been a hot summer for much of the country, but believe it or not, heating season is approaching. That means it's time for furnace tune-ups, to keep your customers' systems working their best throughout the coming colder months.

Here's a flowchart to help guide your technicians through the basics of a furnace tune-up. This is a good first step toward keeping your customers warm and comfortable when the heat and humidity has been replaced by brisk winds and snow flurries.

Please note that this flowchart is a basic guide. The steps here represent the minimum you should be doing on furnace tune-up calls, and there could be entire additional articles written to expand on such items as combustion analysis and system balancing.

One final note: customer education is often as important as the actual technical work in a furnace tune-up. Performing the basic steps in this flowchart can help you identify problems, and can open the door to conversations with customers. Use those conversations as opportunities to better serve customers, and ensure their comfort and safety for many heating seasons.