People are spending a lot more time at home and it is prompting many to evaluate their HVAC systems.
Most major system components like heat pumps, furnaces and chillers have an average life expectancy of between 15-20 years. Performing regular maintenance on your system can maximize the life of your equipment, but there is a point when it makes more sense to replace equipment rather than repairing it.
Key Considerations for Repair Versus Replace
In many instances, simple fixes like replacing filters and repairing faulty wiring can address your HVAC problems, but with older equipment, there is often a systemic problem that requires an expensive repair.
Although a repair might be feasible, with older equipment there is a greater chance that another element of the system will fail in the near term. This is the point in time when it makes more financial sense to incur the cost of new, warrantied equipment.
If your system is nearing the end of its expected useful life, you may want to consider replacing your system if there is are serious problems in any of the following areas:
- System safety; serious problems like a cracked heat exchanger may underlie inefficient heating in your home; heat exchanger cracks in older furnaces can leak carbon monoxide into the air stream which can cause headaches and flu-like symptoms and in extreme cases hospitalization or death
- Inefficient cooling ; the HVAC system is usually the single biggest power consumer in your home, and in Texas we know we will run the AC for 9 months out of the year. Most HVAC systems that are 15 years old or more are not very energy efficient. For one many of them started out as 10-12 SEER systems. SEER stands for seasonal energy efficiency ratio. As a general rule of thumb each increase of 1 SEER equates to the system being 10% more energy efficient. So those systems that started out as 10-12 SEER , after years of operation, degradation of the coils, dirt accumulating on blower wheels and evaporators, are now 8-10 SEER systems. The minimum efficiency right now is 14 SEER, so even the bottom tier systems are 30-50% more energy efficient than most older systems. Lower utility bills coupled with reduced repair costs (because you won’t be throwing away money to keep the old system running) mean that in a few years the system can pay for itself.
- Frequency of breakdowns; when your system is repeatedly failing, not only do you have to live without heating and cooling, but there is a large hassle factor for scheduling appointments and being around for service.. Replacement becomes more compelling if you start to log your own time invested as a cost of system maintenance. Also, most new systems carry a 10 year parts warranty, which will greatly reduce repair costs in the first 10 years
HVAC equipment has a long life span but at some point replacing your equipment can save you money in the long run. Please don’t hesitate to call us to evaluate your system or answer any questions you may have about high efficiency boilers and air conditioning units.
