My house has an electric furnace that I’ve always made sure is well-maintained by the local HVAC technician.
I didn’t do it to ensure the heater remained functional.
That was just a plus of involving the HVAC repairman, but the real reason is that I feared a malfunction would either shock me or burn me to death. I avoided houses with any other type of HVAC equipment that I felt would threaten my safety. Boilers, for example, are in a category of heating technology that I would want to avoid living with. I thought about possible carbon monoxide poisoning, and that was enough to induce a panic attack. My parents home used a furnace for heating, and my dad was once a heating and cooling provider, so every furnace/heater tune-up and furnace filter cleaning and replacement was done on a routine, and we never had to worry. I’d live in a house with a central heater too, but all the houses in my area have installed other options for a modern heating and cooling system. I had work away from my hometown and was hosted by a very kind family my parents knew from college. It was just before winter heat, so the days kept getting colder, and their boiler was on for a lot longer than on warmer days. I remember we were eating dinner when the smoke alarm went off. I have never panicked as much as I did then. The heating contractor was called to diagnose and fix the problem since the fire response team had also found that to be the smoke alarm trigger. It was something to do with excessive oil in the combustion chamber, and for me, those sound like fire hazards I’d rather avoid.