INDIANAPOLIS GUIDE
A fall heat check and a spring cooling check
The switch happens on an ordinary evening. In fall you move the thermostat from cool to heat and wait to hear the furnace. In spring you do the reverse and listen for the outdoor unit. Indianapolis gives you both seasons in full: humid heat, then cold with snow and ice. A check before each turn is how you find a dead igniter or a packed drain while the weather is still polite. It is a list, not a contract and not a sales event.
Two checks, because the machines share a house
The blower, the filter, and the thermostat serve both seasons. The burners and the outdoor compressor do not. A fall visit that never starts the furnace is not a heat check. A spring visit that never runs the outdoor unit is not a cooling check. Ask for the season you are about to enter, by name.
Gas furnaces are common, often in basements in older neighborhoods. Heat pumps and dual-fuel systems need the same calendar with one extra question: does defrost work, and does the thermostat know when to call for the furnace? The heat pump guide is the winter behavior to mention if last January surprised you.
Write the date, the filter size, and anything the technician would not put in writing. A maintenance visit that produces only a recommendation to replace the system, with no list of what was measured or cleaned, did not finish the job you asked for.
What a fall heat check should cover
Before the first hard cold, you can do a short pass yourself. Replace the filter if you have the right size. Make sure supply and return grilles are not blocked by rugs or storage. Set the thermostat to heat, a little above the room temperature, and listen for a full cycle: inducer, ignition, blower, then a normal stop. If you smell gas, stop the test and leave. Use the emergency number on the utility bill.
A technician's heat check should go further without turning into a teardown. Burners that light and stay lit, a blower that starts and stops, a condensate drain on a high-efficiency furnace that is clear, and a look at the vent outside for nests or damage. Ask whether the heat exchanger was visually inspected and what they saw. You want a sentence, not a shrug.
Test the carbon monoxide alarms the same week. Press the test button. Replace alarms that are past the date printed on the back, and put one where the manufacturer says, often near sleeping rooms, not stuffed on a high shelf above the furnace as the only unit in the house. The carbon monoxide guide explains what the alarm means if it goes off for real.
What a spring cooling check should cover
On the first warm stretch, clear the outdoor unit of winter debris. Leaves, seed pods, and a cover that stayed on all winter belong off the cabinet before you ask it to run. Do not pressure-wash the fins. Hose rinse, if you do it, only with the disconnect off, and only as a gentle wash. If you are unsure, leave the coil to the technician and just remove the loose debris.
Inside, the cooling check is the drain and the coil area you can see without opening the refrigerant circuit. A pan of standing water or a slime-clogged trap is how a July ceiling stain starts in May. Ask the technician to flush the trap and to confirm the float switch shuts the system down. Do not bypass that switch to finish a humid day.
Run the system and feel a supply vent. You want cooler air, a compressor that stays on, and no ice. If the house is already clammy, say so. Humidity is part of the spring note, and the humidity guide separates a normal sticky evening from a system that is not pulling moisture.
The habit between the two visits
Filters do not last from October to May in a house with pets, a renovation, or a return that sits in a dusty basement. Check monthly with your eyes. If it is gray and collapsing, replace it. Write the size on the furnace door in pencil so the next box is the right one. A filter change is the maintenance step that is actually yours.
Walk the outdoor unit after storms. A branch, a tipped cover, or a snow drift against the cabinet is a five-minute look. In winter, sidewall intake and exhaust pipes on a high-efficiency furnace should be clear of snow and ice. Clear what you can reach from the ground. Do not climb a drift to hug the siding.
Keep a single note on your phone: filter dates, odd noises, and any visit invoice. When a technician asks what happened since last season, you will have an answer. Memory of a click in January does not survive until August.
What a tune-up is not
A seasonal visit is not a permit, not a license check, and not proof the system was installed correctly years ago. If someone proposes a change-out, the paperwork question moves to the permits and inspections page. Indianapolis and the nearby cities do not share one counter. Maintenance on equipment that is already in place is usually a different conversation from setting new equipment.
A tune-up is also not a refrigerant top-off. If the cooling check finds a low charge, the next sentence should be about a leak, not a can. You should hear what will be tested. Adding refrigerant to get through a sales visit is not maintenance.
Do not expect the visit to include taping a safety switch or raising a setting so the unit will not shut off. A system that only runs with a bypass is not maintained. It is unfinished, and it should be left off until the control is repaired.
How to ask for the visit
Say fall heat check or spring cooling check when you schedule. Say whether the equipment is a gas furnace, a heat pump, or dual fuel, and whether it sits in a basement, a closet, or an attic. Mention a recent no-heat night or a coil that froze. Those details change what the technician brings.
Ask what is included before they arrive. A reasonable answer names the filter, the drain, a full operating cycle, and a written note of what was found. An unreasonable answer is a free inspection that exists only to produce a replacement price. You can decline the pitch and still keep the checklist.
If outdoor air is smoky or unusually stagnant on the day of a cooling check, say so, and do not confuse that haze with a failed blower. Windows stay shut. The equipment note stays about the equipment. When the visit is done, put the next season on the calendar while you are still holding the invoice.
Questions about seasonal checks
When should I schedule the heat check?
Before the first cold stretch you will actually need the furnace, not the week the house is already cold. A fall visit should start the burners and the blower for a full cycle. If you smell gas during that test, stop and call the emergency number on the utility bill from outside.
What is different about the spring visit?
Spring is about the outdoor unit, the condensate drain, and a cooling cycle that produces cool air without ice. Clear loose debris before the visit. A pan of standing water or a drain that never gets flushed is how a ceiling stain shows up on the first humid week.
How often should I look at the filter?
Look about once a month, and replace it when it is gray, bowed, or loaded with dust. Pets, renovations, and a dusty basement return shorten the interval. Write the size where you can find it so the spare you buy actually fits the slot.
Does a maintenance visit replace carbon monoxide alarms?
No. Test the alarms yourself the same week as the heat check, and replace any unit that is past the date on its back. A tune-up is not a substitute for an alarm near the sleeping rooms. If an alarm sounds for real, leave the house and call emergency services.
Is a tune-up the same thing as a permit inspection?
No. Seasonal maintenance is a service visit on equipment you already have. A permit inspection, when one is required, is a city or town process tied to the work being done, often a change-out. Ask which office covers the job address if the conversation turns into new equipment.
Sources (checked October 6, 2026)
We link to these organizations for reference only. None of them is affiliated with this site.
Write it down first
The notes tool turns what you saw into a short summary you can read on the phone.
Write my service notes