The Right Time For Your New Furnace

While common sense dictates that the winter is the least favorable time to replace your furnace, narrowing it down further will take some extra effort. You can stave off the eventual expense for a while, but it's better to have a new furnace selected and a contractor on hand before your furnace fails.

By knowing the status of your furnace, and what to look for from those available on the market, you can plan ahead and save yourself the problems associated with a mid-December HVAC job:

Inspect and Maintain

Maintenance will go a long way toward prolonging the life of your furnace, but much of what is necessary will require a professional. Replacing your filter is great, but the inner workings of your furnace should also be cleaned, dust removed and components checked for signs of wear. This is also a great time for other visual inspections to take place, which is why most HVAC companies include a visual inspection during maintenance visits.

While regular visual inspections will catch most signs of wear and tear on the components of your furnace, going a bit further and actually looking inside the furnace will help too. This means taking a look at the fan assembly, the heating element and any compressor coils inside the heat pump itself.

Regardless of the thoroughness of the inspection you choose to pay for, get an estimate on your unit's longevity from the contractor. It's worth knowing whether your heat pump has several years of usefulness ahead of it, versus just a few months.

Choose Your New Furnace Wisely

The further in advance you begin preparing for the eventual replacement of your furnace the fewer problems you'll have when the time comes. This includes selecting the model and being picky about its features. Like most major appliances though, this is an important investment in your home's future energy efficiency, so look at all the energy-saving features you can.

Several features exist which can improve the energy use of your furnace, such as fan controls that regulate the speed at which air is forced through your vents. You can also check to confirm whether or not the furnace you want is compatible with programmable thermostat controls, allowing you to customize the timing and temperature settings for your furnace down to the minute.

Once you have a good idea of how long your heat pump has, and what you want from a replacement, look to milder months to have the replacement work done. Early to mid-spring, or autumn are great choices, since your entire HVAC system will need to be disabled during the project. Knowing when time is running short will allow you to schedule your life around this major home repair, without throwing everything into a state of major upheaval.

If you want to know more, or still have other questions, contact a company like Wightman Mechanical.

Share