During the winter heating season, the condition of your home’s furnace is obviously critical to your comfort. If you’re experiencing furnace troubles, you probably are wondering whether it’s in your best interests to repair or replace your furnace. There are multiple factors that will help you resolve which option is best for you. Your Edmonton area HVAC professional can help you evaluate your needs and your current HVAC system to determine whether furnace repair or replacement is the ideal short- and long-term answer for your Edmonton home.
When Repair Is Best
More often than not, furnace troubles can be easily sourced and repaired by a ACE-certified, HVAC professional. If your furnace is new—i.e., less than 10 years of system life — it stands a very good chance that any issues it has can be solved through repair. On top of that, if your furnace is still heating your Edmonton area home efficiently (your HVAC professional can help you verify this), then it is still in your best interest to repair it. Typically, as long as you are not seeing a steady increase in your heating bills with constant usage and your home is not having issues with uneven heating, your furnace is deemed operationally sound. Our recommendation about 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 anticipated 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 professional about upgrading your thermostat or checking the integrity of your Edmonton home’s ductwork to see if he thinks these HVAC products could advance 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
Sometimes, repair cannot restore your heating system to a minimally effective level. The estimated lifetime of most furnaces is 15-20 years; after which, the heating system will deteriorate and fail more and more often. Therefore, if your furnace is already at least 15 years old, it is time to discuss replacement. Regardless of the age of your furnace, if you require your HVAC service provider for repairs frequently, 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. Furthermore, your furnace may be struggling if it’s not sized properly for your Edmonton 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 Edmonton home’s heating system is right for you, contact Service Experts Heating & Air Conditioning today.