Here’s when you know that it’s time for your furnace to go
It’s January in the Collinsville, IL area, which means you’re probably running your furnace at maximum capacity to keep up with the unpredictable temperatures in the St. Louis Metro-East area. However, if you’re experiencing heating problems, it may be time for you to evaluate the health and efficiency of your system – it could be time for a new system, and you don’t even know it. But what do you look for, and how do you know when it’s time for that old furnace to be left out in the cold? Here are four ways to evaluate your system to make the right decision when it’s time to call your local experts about furnace replacement at your home or business.
Effectiveness
First (and, perhaps, most importantly), you must evaluate the performance of your system based on how effective it is at heating or cooling your home. If it’s working fine and your home is the temperature you’d like, why are you reading this? No doubt, the reason you’re here is due to a drop in the performance of your system. If it’s no longer effective, that’s the first step in deciding whether or not you need a new system.
Age
The next thing that you can evaluate about your system is its age of it. While you can’t get rid of a system that’s working fine just because it’s old, older systems usually don’t work as well as new ones. Over time, industry innovations will make newer systems more efficient and convenient. If your system is starting to get up there in years, and you see a significant drop in performance, it may be a good time to invest in a new system.
Efficiency
Another way to evaluate the health of your system is by looking at its efficiency. You can do this in a couple of ways. First, take a look at your energy bills going back a few years and notice the overall trends. Are you spending more to heat and cool your home? Are you noticing a steady rise over a period of years? That’s a drop in your efficiency, and there are a few causes. First, it could be poor maintenance, which can be fixed with a call to your local HVAC tech. However, it could be an old system that’s losing efficiency, and should probably be replaced.
Cost
Another way to look at this situation is from a monetary standpoint. How much have you spent on repairs? How much do the current repairs cost? If your system is old, it may be more cost-effective to replace the system than continue to repair an old system that will need to be replaced, anyway. If the repairs are minor and the costs low, there’s no reason to replace them. A trusted contractor like the pros at Dixon won’t push you into replacements and expensive bills that you don’t need!