Wet-bulb hours at the Youngstown station
NOAA's engineering weather data lists a station named Youngstown. In an average year there, NOAA counts about 141 hours when the wet-bulb temperature is above 73°F and about 854 hours when it is above 67°F.
Households in QuickFacts
U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts lists 24,982 households in Youngstown for 2020-2024, with 2.21 persons per household.
How to use this list
The tasks below run through the year in stretches, starting where the heating season begins to wind down. Each stretch has chores you can handle and a short set of items to hand a technician. Whenever you open a cabinet or work near the outdoor unit, switch the system off at the thermostat first, then cut power at the furnace service switch or the outdoor disconnect.
Late winter
For you
- Pull the filter and hold it to the light. If you can't see through it, replace it and write the date on the frame.
- Walk past every supply register and return grille and move anything blocking them.
- Look along the base of the furnace and the water heater for rust, scorch marks or damp spots.
- Make a list of rooms that stayed cold through the winter while you still remember them.
For a technician
- Any burner that lights unevenly, a flame that looks yellow or lazy, or a furnace that cycles on and off in quick bursts.
Spring startup
For you
- As the cooling season nears, pick the outdoor cabinet clean of leaves, sticks and whatever got leaned against it over the winter, and trim back plants to the clearance printed in the unit's manual.
- Kill power at the outside disconnect, then let a garden hose run gently down through the coil fins. High-pressure spray can bend them.
- Set a level on the pad. While you are down there, see whether the foam around the fat copper line has cracked or gone missing.
- Trace the condensate line to where it drains. Tip some water into it, or into the pump's reservoir, and make sure it flows away.
- Try cooling for the first time on a pleasant day, and stay near the outdoor unit for a few minutes to hear how it sounds.
For a technician
- Gauge readings recorded on the ticket, the start capacitor and contactor, the wiring terminals, and the indoor coil's surface.
Midsummer
For you
- Swap or wash the filter on a monthly rhythm during long cooling runs.
- Shine a flashlight into the pan beneath the indoor coil; water pooling there suggests the drain is slow.
- Mow so the grass spray points away from the condenser.
- When a room stays warm toward evening, note the hour and the setting for the next technician.
Stop and call if you see
- ice forming on the refrigerant lines or the indoor coil (run the fan by itself until help arrives);
- a puddle growing beside the air handler;
- an outdoor fan motor humming without spinning.
Early fall
For you
- Give the furnace a trial run on a crisp day, ahead of real need. Burning dust on that first cycle can smell for a moment; a hot-plastic or wiring smell is a reason to switch it off and phone for service.
- Press the test button on each smoke and carbon monoxide alarm and change batteries where they take them.
- Check the plastic pipes on the outside wall, if the furnace has them, for nests and leaf clogs.
- On a furnace-mounted humidifier, change the water panel and open the supply valve again.
- Program the heating schedule, and give the thermostat new batteries if it runs on them.
For a technician
- Gas furnace: burner and flame condition, flame sensor, ignitor, heat exchanger, gas pressure and a combustion analysis.
- Heat pump: reversing valve operation, defrost controls and the backup heat circuit.
Deep winter
For you
- Clear snow off the furnace's intake and exhaust pipes with a gloved hand after each storm.
- Keep a running heat pump uncovered, and keep snow banks and icicle drip away from it.
- Watch for the auxiliary or emergency heat indicator, and jot down when it shows.
- Turn the humidifier down if the inside of the windows fogs or frosts.
- Look at the filter once a month.
Get out and call for help if
- a carbon monoxide alarm sounds. Leave the house first, then call from outside.
After a storm or a power outage
- Give the electricity time to come back steady before you restart, then check whether the thermostat kept its schedule.
- Circle the outdoor unit looking for limbs, crushed fins, a pad knocked out of level or debris inside.
- If water reached the furnace, the air handler or the base of the outdoor unit, keep everything off until a technician has looked.
- Take pictures for your insurer before anything is cleaned or moved.
Signs that call for a technician any time of year
- A breaker that trips again after you reset it.
- Heating or cooling that starts and stops every few minutes.
- A burning or electrical smell. For a gas smell, leave the house and call the gas company from outside.
- Soot around the furnace or its vent.
- A sudden jump in your energy bill with no change in how you use the house.
Before you replace anything
If a repair quote gets steep, request a replacement quote from that same company, and ask whoever prices new equipment:
- How will you size it, and will a written room-by-room load calculation come with the proposal?
- Can you give me the AHRI number for the precise indoor and outdoor match you are offering?
- Does the price cover sealing and fixing the ducts, or is that extra?
- What state license or registration, if any, covers this work, and what is the number?
- Will the city want a permit for this, and whose name goes on it?
- Will you send copies of your liability coverage and workers' compensation certificates?
A running service log
Keep a page in a sleeve taped near the furnace, or a note on your phone. Record the filter size and every change date, each visit with the technician's name and what was measured, any refrigerant added, parts replaced, and the model and serial numbers of the indoor and outdoor equipment. A record like that shortens the next diagnosis and gives a warranty claim dates to stand on.