Furnace & Heat Pump Myths Busted: Winter HVAC Prep with Athen Ashby of Pyramid Heating and Cooling

Is your furnace ready for winter? We're busting the most common heating and cooling myths with Athen Ashby of Pyramid Heating and Cooling, the team that's taken care of Eric's house for more than a decade. They serve Portland and Central Oregon (Bend), Oregon CCB #59382. (We legally have to do that in Oregon)

We cover what homeowners should do right now before cold weather hits: changing the air filter (and why that cheap one-inch filter can overheat your furnace), annual gas tune-ups, flame sensor cleaning, and why register filters and "beauty cages" around your outdoor unit do more harm than good. We also get into how modern heat pumps work in the cold, why steam and ice in a defrost cycle are normal, heat pump vs. gas furnace costs, mini-split maintenance, and covering your AC for winter the right way.

You'll also learn which warning signs aren't normal, why you should never fire up a furnace that's sat unused without an inspection, how smart thermostats age, and why hiring a licensed, bonded and insured HVAC pro beats the "Chuck in a truck."

Book service with Pyramid Heating and Cooling at pyramidheating.com. If you're outside Oregon, find your local dealer.

Hosted by Eric Goranson, CKD.

Takeaways:

• We kept it simple and loud: change your furnace filter regularly, because restricted airflow overheats the system, causes shutdowns, and makes your bills and repair list much uglier.
• I seriously recommend scheduling a pre-winter tune-up — we can find flaky flame sensors, calibration issues, or backordered parts before temperatures drop and your phone explodes with service calls.
• We busted the DIY filter myth: sticking screens on every register chokes the system — there's one proper filter location at the furnace, not a hundred little band-aids.
• I had fun blowing up the heat pump myth — it doesn't just make cold air; we reverse refrigerant flow to harvest outside heat and deliver useful BTUs even when it’s pretty chilly.
• Please don’t build a cute doghouse or Instagram cage around the outdoor unit: trapping air makes it work harder, lose capacity, and possibly shut down on the worst day.
• If your heat pump spits a little steam during defrost, relax — that’s normal; heavy ice sheets, freezing rain, or persistent ice though, means emergency heat or technician attention.
• We love mini-splits — great for older homes, lofts, or tricky rooms — but keep up with cleaning, sanitizing blower wheels, and clearing drain lines to prevent smelly bacterial nasties.
• I’ll say this straight: hire licensed, bonded pros who size systems by load and know current codes; cheap hacks can cost you way more in comfort and replacement down the road.

Links referenced in this episode:

• pyramidheatingcooling.com
• pyramidheating.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Pyramid Heating and Cooling
• Carrier
• Lennox
• Honeywell
• Netflix

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