As fall moves into winter, the performance of your furnace becomes important. Now is the time to consider whether to upgrade your furnace, or risk a snap decision later. An informed choice could save you money and discomfort.  Furnaces reaching the end of their life will tend to fail, and cause more major issues as demand for heat increases throughout the winter months. An assessment of its condition now could save money, and time if you consider the following points.

  • Age is always an important consideration, especially if the furnace was fitted prior to you moving into your home. To confirm the age of your furnace, take the manufacturer’s serial number off the furnace cover or the combustion chamber door, and contact the manufacturers customer services team, who will be able to supply you with a manufacture date. A date of over fifteen years suggests you are past the life expectancy of the furnace. This is not to suggest that it will fail immediately, or that a boiler that is younger will not fail, but it is a good marker when considering replacement.
  • Upkeep costs are a pointer when considering whether your furnace is reaching the end of its effective life. Furnace components have similar life and begin to fail around the same time. When parts and service start to reach 40 percent of the replacement cost, then it is time for you to upgrade your furnace.
  • The final pointer is efficiency. A furnace 15 years old may have an annualized fuel utilization efficiency of less than 76 percent. The AFUE equates the amount of fuel used to produce heat against the amount of fuel used in the combustion process. A new, high efficiency boiler would have an AFUE of around 90 percent.
  • Finally, safety. An older unit may be more prone to the production of carbon monoxide, which is a deadly gas.

At Stack Heating & Cooling we understand the importance of an efficiently operating and safe furnace unit. We have specialist technicians who are here, waiting for you to contact us for all your heating and air conditioning needs.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Cleveland, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about upgrading your furnace and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Thinglass/Shutterstock”

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