Nobody wants to replace their furnace. It’s not fun, you can’t show it off like a shiny new car and it won’t make you “feel good”. But there comes a time when replacement is a good idea. I like to be proactive when it comes to replacement. Why should your furnace determine when it is time for replacement and not you? If you wait until the system cannot be repaired for instance, it will break at the worst possible moment. You might be away on vacation, it might be the holidays, or worst case 10 degrees below zero. Now you have to make a decision on the spot – without any research into what might be the best choice. Don’t forget, you’ll have to live with your decision for about twenty years – so don’t put off the inevitable till it’s too late.
So what are the signs that the time is near for furnace replacement?
Most manufacturers include a twenty year warranty on their heat exchangers so it makes sense that you will get at least that many years out of your furnace. Of course this depends on how you have maintained the system throughout the years. Clean and checks go a long way in extending the useful life of your furnace. If your system is at twenty plus years, now is a good time to start thinking about replacement.
Have you had multiple repairs recently or is your furnace very unreliable? Don’t throw good money after bad when you could be using the money spent for the repair toward the replacement of the system – especially if the repair is $500 or more.
Efficiency of a newer furnace will be higher than your old one so there is a point when it pays to replace in fuel savings. Sometimes these savings are 25% so if your bills are getting out of hand, a new high efficient system will really help.
Certain times of the year (usually spring and fall) manufacturers have specials where they offer rebates on new systems of hundreds of dollars or offer free financing up to 5 years. This plus the rebates from your gas supplier of about $400.00 can really help lower the initial costs of the install.