Because if it ices over, your furnace will stop working on the day1 you most needed it.
Flushing it out from the outside with a bucket of hot water and a pump similar to this one 2 will melt the ice and open up the drain and you will get heat again.
1 Day because if your freezing weather lasts much longer than that, your homebuilder probably engineered a house that could handle the cold. Unfortunately my house was built by southern rednecks who’d never heard of insulation.
2 Not an endorsement of any brand or retailer. Just make sure it has a long enough hose. That’s what made it work better than some of the things I tried first.
I mean I get that this topc is inherently hot, but why is it marked not-safe-for-work? 😅
Because I didn’t notice that. Edited.
This is a home maintenance task. Depending on where you work and how the building is constructed, other equipment might be needed or it may be a completely different process. “Not safe for work” just indicates the possibility of a hazard here.