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 problems, you probably are wondering whether it makes sense to repair or replace your furnace. There are several factors that will determine which option is best for you. Your Kingwood area HVAC professional can help you evaluate your needs and your current HVAC system to determine whether furnace repair or replacement is the best short- and long-term answer for your Kingwood home.
When Repair Is Best
More often than not, furnace issues can be easily pinpointed and repaired by a ACE-certified, HVAC professional. If your furnace is new—i.e., less than 10 years of system life — odds are highly likely that any issues it exhibits can be solved through repair. On top of that, if your furnace is still heating your Kingwood area home efficiently (your HVAC professional can help you determine this), then it is still in your best interest to repair it. Typically, as long as you are not seeing a continuous increase in your heating bills with regular usage and your home is not having issues with uneven heating, your furnace is considered in good shape. A good general rule of thumb regarding furnace repairs is that as long as the repairs you must get are less than one-third of the investment of a new heating system and your furnace is in the first half of its expected lifetime, repair is likely your best decision. Don’t forget that even if you are experiencing a reduction 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 Kingwood home’s ductwork to see if he thinks these enhancement could improve the efficiency of your furnace. Talk to Finch Air Conditioning & Heating about scheduling regular furnace maintenance, which will ensure your furnace is in top condition and help you prevent further repairs or drops in efficiency.
When Replacement Is Best
At times, repair will not be able to affordably resolve your issues. 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 think about replacement. Regardless of the age of your furnace, if you’ve been calling your HVAC service provider for repairs frequently, this could also be a sign that your furnace is beyond help and requires a replacement. Although repairs may seem like an easy fix, if they aren’t keeping your furnace operating for years at a time, these frequent smaller charges can add up quickly and cost you more in the long run. There are a variety of things that may determine whether replacement is ideal for you including the quality of your original furnace installation and the capacity of your furnace. Installation means everything in terms of furnace effectiveness. Furthermore, your furnace may be struggling if it’s not sized according to specs for your Kingwood 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 Kingwood home’s heating system is right for you, contact Finch Air Conditioning & Heating today.