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 troubles, you probably are wondering whether it makes sense to repair or replace your furnace. There are multiple factors that will determine which option is best for you. Your Richmond area HVAC service advisor can help you assess your needs and your struggling HVAC system to determine whether furnace repair or replacement is the appropriate short- and long-term answer for your Richmond home.
When Repair Is Best
Oftentimes, furnace problems can be easily identified 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 experiences can be solved through repair. On top of that, if your furnace is still heating your Richmond area home efficiently (your HVAC professional can help you determine this), then it is still in your best interest to repair it. Usually, 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 about 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 anticipated lifetime, repair is likely your best choice. Keep in mind 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 technician about upgrading your thermostat or checking the integrity of your Richmond home’s ductwork to see if he thinks these solutions could improve the efficiency of your furnace. Talk to Eveready 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 estimated lifetime of most furnaces is 15-20 years; after this point, the heating system will start to fail more and more often. Therefore, if your furnace is already at least 15 years old, it is time to consider replacement. Irregardless of equipment age, if you’ve been calling your HVAC service provider for repairs frequently, 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 ultimately cost you more money. There are many 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 correctly for your Richmond 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 Richmond home’s heating system is right for you, contact Eveready Service Experts today.