When its cold outside, the health and operation of your home’s furnace is obviously critical 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 determine which option is best for you. Your Raleigh area HVAC service advisor can help you assess your needs and your current HVAC system to determine whether furnace repair or replacement is the appropriate short- and long-term answer for your Raleigh home.
When Repair Is Best
Oftentimes, furnace troubles can be easily sourced and repaired by a ACE-certified, HVAC professional. If your furnace is new—i.e., less than ten years old — it stands a very good chance that any issues it experiences can be solved through repair. On top of that, if your furnace is still heating your Raleigh area home efficiently (your HVAC professional can help you determine this), then it is still likely and more affordable to repair it. Usually, as long as you are not seeing a trending increase in your heating bills with continual usage and your home is not having issues with uneven heating, your furnace is deemed operationally sound. Our recommendation relating to furnace repairs is that assuming the repairs you must get 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 decrease in heating efficiency, there are other routes you can explore before considering replacing your furnace. Talk to your HVAC professional about upgrading your thermostat or checking the integrity of your Raleigh home’s ductwork to see if he thinks these HVAC products could boost the efficiency of your furnace. Talk to Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning about scheduling regular furnace maintenance, which will keep your furnace functioning its best and help you avoid further repairs or drops in efficiency.
When Replacement Is Best
In some cases, repair will not be able to affordably resolve your issues. The expected lifetime of most furnaces is 15-20 years; thereafter, the heating system will begin to fail more and more often. Thus, if your furnace is nearing or passed the 15 year mark, it is time to think about replacement. Regardless of the age of your furnace, if you’ve been calling your HVAC service provider for repairs on a regular basis, this could also be a sign that your heating system is failing and needs to be replaced. Although repairs may seem like a basic 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 a variety of 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. In addition, your furnace may be struggling if it’s not sized according to specs for your Raleigh 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 Raleigh home’s heating system is right for you, contact Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning today.