During the winter heating season, the condition of your home’s furnace is obviously fundamental to your comfort. If you’re experiencing furnace troubles, you may be wondering whether it’s in your best interests to repair or replace your furnace. There are several factors that will help you resolve which option is best for you. Your Waukegan area HVAC professional 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 Waukegan home.
When Repair Is Best
In most cases, furnace troubles can be easily diagnosed and repaired by a ACE-certified, HVAC professional. If your furnace is new—i.e., less than ten years old — odds are highly likely that any issues it exhibits can be solved through repair. Additionally, if your furnace is still heating your Waukegan area home efficiently (your HVAC professional can help you determine this), then it is still in your best interest to repair it. Commonly, as long as you are not seeing a steady increase in your heating bills with continual usage and your home is not having issues with uneven heating, your furnace is functioning efficiently. A good general rule of thumb about furnace repairs is that if the repairs you need are less than one-third of the expense of a new heating system and your furnace is in the first half of its predicted lifetime, repair is likely your best option. Keep in mind that even if you are experiencing a decrease in heating efficiency, there are other avenues you can explore before considering replacing your furnace. Talk to your HVAC service advisor about upgrading your thermostat or checking the integrity of your Waukegan home’s ductwork to see if he thinks these solutions could advance the efficiency of your furnace. Talk to Robinson Service Experts about scheduling regular furnace maintenance, which will add years of quality service from your furnace and help you prevent further repairs or drops in efficiency.
When Replacement Is Best
Sometimes, repair is not your best option to restore your furnace to optimal function. The estimated 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 discuss replacement. Beyond the factor of the age of your equipment, if you’ve been calling 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 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 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. Also, your furnace may be struggling if it’s not sized properly for your Waukegan home size or heating needs. If your furnace isn’t sized or installed properly, you will probably need to consider a new unit instead of dealing with a heating system that lacks the capacity to properly heat your home.
If you have questions about whether repair or replacement of your Waukegan home’s heating system is right for you, contact Robinson Service Experts today.