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Are You Going to Need a New Furnace Soon?

technician-working-on-furnace

Now is the right time to ask yourself this question, especially if you have reasons to believe your current furnace is on the decline or is too old for you to trust it will make it through the coming cold weather. Fall is an ideal time to arrange for a larger HVAC service like a furnace replacement in Beaverton, OR— the weather isn’t cold enough for you to worry about going without a heater for a few hours, and HVAC technicians have more open schedules. 

Let’s get into the question and help you see if you need to replace your furnace before the winter arrives.

Consider the Furnace’s Age

The age of a furnace is the first basic guideline for determining when to have it replaced. Although regular maintenance and repairs can help a furnace last longer, there is a point when age will overwhelm it. Gas furnaces can last around 15 years if well-maintained, and electric furnaces for about 20 years. If your furnace is approaching this age or past it, the question about replacement becomes more urgent—you will need to have it replaced soon.

Watch for a Decline in Efficiency

A major warning of a furnace that’s entering its last stages is when it loses energy efficiency. Maintenance will help a furnace maintain 95% of its efficiency until its last one or two years, and then the decline can be fast. Watch your utility bills to see if you’re paying more each year for heating. Such a trend begs for a furnace replacement, and also means you’ll start saving money with a new furnace the moment it comes on thanks to its superior efficiency.

Be Wary of Expensive Repairs

Fixing a furnace that’s 15 or more years old is rarely a good investment since the system isn’t likely to last much longer. We don’t recommend paying for a repair that’s quoted at more than half the price of a new system. If you’ve already had the furnace repaired once in the past year, the need for a second repair is cause for getting a new furnace instead—you’re otherwise sinking too much into a failing system.

Uneven Heating Is a Major Warning Sign

A malfunction that can send you a warning that your furnace is almost finished is when your house is getting uneven warmth. The center of the house gets to the temperature you want, but the other rooms are either not warm enough or flat-out cold. This indicates a furnace losing its heating capacity. You can look into repairs, but heed our warning about the cost of repairs above.

You Simply Don’t Trust Your Furnace

If you have enough doubts about your furnace’s performance that you worry you may end up with no heat in the middle of a cold day, that’s a good enough reason to call on professionals to give the system an inspection and deliver an opinion on its future. You deserve to have heating you can depend on. You deserve to have peace of mind during the winter. Let our team help you get both.

Clawson Heating & Air Conditioning is “Connecting People to Comfort”! Call us for assistance with your furnace if you think you need to replace it.

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