When its cold outside, the health and function of your home’s furnace is obviously critical to your comfort. If you’re experiencing furnace problems, you might be wondering whether it’s in your best interests to repair or replace your furnace. There are many factors that will help you resolve which option is best for you. Your Fort Worth area HVAC professional can help you evaluate your needs and your broken HVAC system to determine whether furnace repair or replacement is the ideal short- and long-term answer for your Fort Worth home.
When Repair Is Best
In most cases, furnace problems can be easily diagnosed 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 has can be solved through repair. On top of that, if your furnace is still heating your Fort Worth 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 continuous increase in your heating bills with constant usage and your home is not having issues with uneven heating, your furnace is functioning efficiently. A good general rule of thumb regarding furnace repairs is that if 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 choice. Keep in mind that even if you are experiencing a drop in heating efficiency, there are other avenues you can explore before considering replacing your furnace. Talk to your HVAC professional about upgrading your thermostat or checking the integrity of your Fort Worth home’s ductwork to see if he thinks these enhancement could improve the efficiency of your furnace. Talk to Calverley Service Experts 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
Eventually, repair will not be able to affordably resolve your issues. The estimated lifetime of most furnaces is 15-20 years; thereafter, the heating system will deteriorate and fail more and more often. Accordingly, if your furnace is approaching or past 15 years old, it is time to consider replacement. Beyond the factor of the age of your equipment, if you require your HVAC service provider for repairs too often, 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 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 best for you including the quality of your original furnace installation and the capacity of your furnace. A furnace is only as good as its installation, making proper installation essential. Also, your furnace may be struggling if it’s not sized according to specs for your Fort Worth 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 Fort Worth home’s heating system is right for you, contact Calverley Service Experts today.