During the winter heating season, the health and operation of your home’s furnace is obviously fundamental to your comfort. If you’re experiencing furnace difficulties, you may be wondering whether it makes sense to repair or replace your furnace. There are many factors that will help you resolve which option is best for you. Your Hurricane area HVAC technician can help you evaluate your needs and your broken HVAC system to determine whether furnace repair or replacement is the best short- and long-term answer for your Hurricane home.
When Repair Is Best
More often than not, furnace troubles can be easily pinpointed and repaired by a ACE-certified, HVAC professional. If your furnace is new—i.e., less than ten years old — chances are very good that any issues it exhibits can be solved through repair. On top of that, if your furnace is still heating your Hurricane area home efficiently (your HVAC professional can help you verify this), then it is still in your best interest to repair it. Typically, as long as you are not seeing a trending increase in your heating bills with constant usage and your home is not having issues with uneven heating, your furnace is functioning efficiently. Conventional wisdom relating to furnace repairs is that as long as the repairs you need are less than one-third of the investment of a new heating system and your furnace is in the first half of its predicted lifetime, repair is likely your best option. Don’t forget that even if you are experiencing a drop in heating efficiency, there are other routes you can explore before considering replacing your furnace. Talk to your HVAC service advisor about upgrading your thermostat or checking the integrity of your Hurricane home’s ductwork to see if he thinks these solutions could improve the efficiency of your furnace. Talk to Teays Valley Service Experts about scheduling regular furnace maintenance, which will ensure your furnace is in top condition and help you minimize further repairs or drops in efficiency.
When Replacement Is Best
In some cases, repair is not your best option to restore your furnace to optimal function. The expected lifetime of most furnaces is 15-20 years; after which, the heating system will begin to fail more and more often. Therefore, if your furnace is already at least 15 years old, it is time to discuss replacement. Regardless of the age of your furnace, if you need your HVAC service provider for repairs too often, this could also be a sign that your heating system is failing and needs to be replaced. Although repairs may seem like an easy fix, if they aren’t keeping your furnace running for years at a time, these frequent smaller charges will add up and cost you way more than buying new. There are several things that may determine whether replacement is best for you including the quality of your original furnace installation and the capacity of your furnace. Having your furnace installed properly is critical to the performance of the unit. In addition, your furnace may be struggling if it’s not sized correctly for your Hurricane home size or heating needs. If your furnace isn’t sized or installed properly, you should consider replacing the system and starting anew, rather than continually addressing breakdowns and poor function.
If you have questions about whether repair or replacement of your Hurricane home’s heating system is right for you, contact Teays Valley Service Experts today.