While regular maintenance will ensure you get the best performance and greatest longevity from your furnace, air conditioner, boiler, or heat pump, the time will come when replacement is a smart investment in your home comfort and your home energy consumption. By learning how to spot the signs of a failing HVAC system, you can detect the symptoms early and choose repairs or replacements wisely.

Rising energy bills

Home comfort is one of the largest areas of energy consumption in the average home. Thus, an increase in your heating and cooling bills is always cause for a closer look. While any HVAC system will lose efficiency over time if it is not maintained, regular tune-ups and repairs are often sufficient to keep heating and cooling appliances that are in good condition functioning efficiently. If you notice that your energy bills appear to be on the rise without any change in your HVAC maintenance schedule, it could be a sign that your appliances are beginning to reach the end of their expected lifetime. An aging HVAC system will perform poorly and consume more energy over time as components begin to fail and the system as a whole is unable to achieve the efficiency it once produced.

Frequent problems

While the occasional minor repair should be expected over the course of your HVAC system’s lifetime, a change in the frequency with which you experience heating or cooling problems may be a sign that your HVAC system is reaching the end of that life. As your HVAC system ages, it will experience more wear and tear that is associated with more frequent problems and breakdowns, even if you address each issue as soon as you notice it. Although a few small repairs are not a pressing reason to replace your heating or cooling system, an increasing number of minor repairs can lead to costs that add up over time. If you are concerned that your heating or cooling system is breaking frequently and requires service visits more often than it once did, it is worth considering putting the money you might otherwise spend on repairs into a new HVAC system. Additionally, any time your HVAC system experiences a major problem associated with a costly repair, it’s worth discussing the price of the repair versus the price of new system purchase and installation with your repair technician. If the cost of repairs is more than half the cost of installing a new system, it may be a smarter long-term choice to replace your damaged system with a newer, more efficient solution that is guaranteed to last for decades.

If you have questions or concerns about the performance of your HVAC system, our experienced technicians can help you determine whether repair or replacement is the best choice for your needs. When it comes time to replace your heating and cooling system, we will work with you to determine your Seattle home’s comfort needs so you can select a system that reduces heating and cooling costs while delivering exactly the temperature and humidity control you want. Contact us today to schedule your free estimate.