You’re probably happy to read this headline, because it means summer is getting closer and you’re that much nearer to not needing your home’s furnace at all. (At least until toward the end of the year.) But when the warmer weather settles in and the furnace won’t have to run, should you shut the system down entirely?
The answer depends on the type of furnace installed in your house. The main reason to shut down a furnace for the season is to avoid energy waste or possible safety hazards, and this isn’t the same for all furnaces.
March is one of the trickiest months when it comes to figuring out the weather. The first part of the month is in winter, and the last is in spring, although it can sometimes act as if the opposite were true. This is why you always need to pay attention to your household 
More than 64 million homes in the U.S. use natural gas for winter heat. That number alone can give you an idea of the safety issues with gas furnaces—i.e. not that many. If gas furnaces posed a basic health threat to a home, they wouldn’t be installed in so many of them around the country. Current standards for the manufacturers of natural gas furnaces place a special emphasis on maintaining safe operation. Furnaces are designed with numerous safeguards, such as a limit switch that prevents a furnace from overheating.
Now that it’s the middle of October, you’ve probably got cooler weather and winter planning on your mind. Have you arranged for maintenance for your gas furnace yet? If not, there’s no time like the present to 
