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If you’re asking this question, it’s because you’re looking to replace an older furnace (or you’re putting in the first furnace in a new house) and you understand that if you end up with one that’s not powerful enough—“undersized”—the house won’t be comfortable. You might not know that going too far the other direction, an “oversized” furnace, is also a huge problem. You need to know a specific size to get the best performance.
So … how do you do that?
You don’t want to have a dead furnace in a Maryland winter—that’s something you’ll know if you’ve spent even one cold day here. If you’ve had your current furnaces for over ten years, it is beginning to move into the territory where it could fail on you. Keeping up with routine maintenance each spring will make this less likely, but as the furnace continues to age, it will eventually reach a point where it won’t go on any further and repairs will be too costly to keep it running.
Fortunately, furnaces rarely burn their last without giving out several warnings of their imminent demise. If you pay attention to the furnace’s operation, you can catch some of these omens of a dying furnace and call for HVAC technicians in time. Our team of experts can tell if the furnace can be rescued with repairs or if a replacement is better. Below are five of the major signs to call us for assistance:
Furnaces make some noise when they run, but the sound of the burners and the fans isn’t distracting and you’re used to it as part of the sound of winter. But if your furnace starts to make more of a racket, one that has you occasionally looking up and thinking, “What was that?”, then something is probably wrong. These noises can include rattling, clicking, booming, and grinding. If it sounds off, have it looked into.
The furnace is running, hot air is flowing out of the room vents, and it would seem as if everything is okay. Except some rooms are not as warm as they usually are. If you can’t find a reason for this in the rooms themselves (such as cracks around windows or other drafts), then the furnace is probably losing its heating capacity—and it will continue to get worse until the furnace runs itself down.
This is when the furnace gets caught in a start-stop pattern that repeats multiple times over an hour. A furnace should run in heating cycles of at least 15 minutes before cycling down. Short-cycling can indicate several different problems, or possible multiple ones coming together if you have an older furnace.
A furnace, if maintained annually, should keep around 95% of its original energy efficiency up to the last two years of its service life. When you see that you are paying much more to run the furnace than you ever have before, it probably means the furnace is now in those final years. Repairs may only stall this: a technician can help determine if repairs are worthwhile.
Have you found yourself pushing your thermostat settings up higher and higher in order to warm up the house? You shouldn’t need to do this—the same steady temperature you normally set the furnace to should be fine, unless the furnace is starting to fail.
At Atlantic Refrigeration & Air Conditioning, Inc., “We Take Pride in Your Comfort.” Schedule service for your furnace—repair or replacement—with our team today.
You’ve come to the end of regular air conditioning maintenance and AC repair in Delaware for your home comfort system. The air conditioner is at the close of its service life and it’s time to schedule a replacement. All ACs eventually get there—the important part is deciding what to replace yours with.
“Well, that’s easy,” you say. “Another central air conditioner!”
Of course, that is one option, and it may be the best option. But it isn’t the only one. You might want to consider a heat pump.
If you’re asking yourself about whether a repair for your faulty HVAC system is too costly, it’s either because a) your heater is starting to fail at the end of the season after a long winter, or b) you’re concerned about your old air conditioning system and if it will manage the coming summer weather.
In either case, you’re already asking the right question. Repairs for an HVAC system early on in its service life are usually worth the price, and many will fall under the warranty. With older systems that are out of warranty, price becomes a bigger concern. The cost to fix an older AC, furnace, boiler, or heat pump is often steeper, and you may be on the edge of purchasing a new system. Is the cost of a repair worthwhile, or is the repair too expensive and it’s finally time for a replacement system?
Unless you move out of your house, you will eventually need to replace the household furnace. No matter how well you maintain a furnace, it will start to deteriorate from age and wear. Maintenance can help it reach a long service life, but a time will come when you’ll have to make the decision that the furnace is too old and needs a replacement.
What is “too old” for a furnace? That’s the big question, and it doesn’t have a straightforward answer. Not all furnaces are identical, nor do they wear out at the same rate. In this post, we can provide details about furnace age and performance to give you an idea about when to consider a new furnace.
Efficiency is an important word when it comes to HVAC systems. People want to make sure they have heating and air conditioning units that waste as little energy as possible. This not only keeps utility bills lower, it’s better for the environment because it puts less strain on power plants and natural resources. The US Department of Energy has a program called ENERGY STAR to help consumers identify products with superior energy efficiency and quality features. When you’re hunting for a new heating system or other HVAC product, look for the ENERGY STAR label.
But you’ll also want to look at the actual efficiency rating of the appliance, and this can become a bit confusing because different appliances have different criteria. Sometimes, efficiency ratings can be misleading without some extra information—and this is the case with the two most common types of furnaces, gas and electric.
