Does Your Old Furnace Need Replacing?

If you live in Manor, TX or the surrounding area, you’ve likely been running your heater for at least a few weeks now. Fall weather can get cold—and it’s only going to get colder as winter begins in earnest in a couple of weeks. If you own an older furnace, now might be an excellent time to evaluate it and decide if you need a new one installed. Furnaces and other types of heating are designed to last a long time, and with maintenance conducted once or twice a year, you can extend its lifespan well beyond its warranty. But sooner or later, time catches up with every appliance, and when it does, you need to get a new one installed quickly.

That point can be tough to spot, however. As long as the furnace is still running, people tend to let it keep going, no matter what it might cost them. The problem with that approach, however, is that it often leaves you flat-footed when a breakdown occurs—often just when you need the furnace the most—and forces you to scramble to get it replaced, often throwing your routine into a tizzy.

The solution? Examine your heating system now for signs that it needs to be replaced. Keep a careful eye on its age, its efficiency, and its ability to function, and evaluate whether it can hold on for another winter or not. If it can’t, you have time to schedule a replacement according to your timetable, not the breakdowns. It also means that you can enjoy the benefits of a new heating system all winter long, instead of having to limp along with the old one.

So how can you tell if your heating system needs replacing? Only the homeowner can make that final decision, but here are a few tips to help you along.

1. Age. Age can vary greatly in this case, and with proper servicing, your heater should last well beyond its warranty expiration date. That date is a good litmus test to determine whether you should start thinking about replacing the heater, however. And if a heater with an expired warranty is showing any of the other signs of needed replacement, the combination is probably enough to justify action.
2. Inefficiency. All heaters come with an efficiency rating: AFUE, which stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. The higher the rating, the more efficient the furnace, though as time goes on that rating will creep down from its listed value. The best way to spot this is to compare your monthly heating bills to those from previous years. If the monthly costs are creeping up past the point where your budget can comfortably tolerate it, you might want to think about a replacement.
3. Repairs. Older systems will need more repairs than new ones, and the repairs tend to be more expensive as essential components slowly wear out. If you’ve had more than three repair calls in the last six months—or you are only facing one, but it’s more expensive than you’d like, you should consider a replacement.

If you need a new heating system, contact the pros at Intelligent Air Services today to discuss your options!