During the winter heating season, the health and function of your home’s furnace is obviously fundamental to your comfort. If you’re experiencing furnace difficulties, you probably are wondering whether it makes sense to repair or replace your furnace. There are multiple factors that will help you resolve which option is best for you. Your Houston area HVAC professional can help you assess your needs and your struggling HVAC system to determine whether furnace repair or replacement is the ideal short- and long-term answer for your Houston home.
When Repair Is Best
Oftentimes, furnace issues can be easily diagnosed and repaired by a ACE-certified, HVAC professional. If your furnace is new—i.e., less than 10 years of system life — it stands a very good chance that any issues it has can be solved through repair. On top of that, if your furnace is still heating your Houston area home efficiently (your HVAC professional can help you determine this), then it is still in your best interest to repair it. Commonly, 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 deemed operationally sound. A good general rule of thumb relating to furnace repairs is that if the repairs you require are less than one-third of the expense of a new heating system and your furnace is in the first half of its predicted lifetime, repair is likely your best choice. Don’t forget that even if you are experiencing a reduction in heating efficiency, there are other avenues you can explore before considering replacing your furnace. Talk to your HVAC service advisor about upgrading your thermostat or checking the integrity of your Houston home’s ductwork to see if he thinks these enhancement could advance the efficiency of your furnace. Talk to Church Services about scheduling regular furnace maintenance, which will add years of quality service from your furnace and help you prevent further repairs or drops in efficiency.
When Replacement Is Best
At times, repair is not your best option to restore your furnace to optimal function. The anticipated lifetime of most furnaces is 15-20 years; thereafter, the heating system will deteriorate and fail more and more often. Therefore, if your furnace is nearing or passed the 15 year mark, it is time to discuss replacement. Beyond the factor of the age of your equipment, if you need your HVAC service provider for repairs on a regular basis, this could also be a sign that it’s time to consider replacement. Although repairs may seem like a simple fix, if they aren’t keeping your furnace functioning 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 appropriate 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. Also, your furnace may be struggling if it’s not sized according to specs for your Houston home size or heating needs. If your furnace isn’t sized or installed properly, you might want to buy the correct unit versus trying to get the wrong unit to perform beyond it’s capacity.
If you have questions about whether repair or replacement of your Houston home’s heating system is right for you, contact Church Services today.