Making the Decision to Repair or Replace your Furnace

It’s that time of year again! Time to think about how much we depend on our furnaces/boilers to keep us warm in our homes during the winter months. Did you know that the average furnace will run 2500 hours per year to keep you comfortable in your home? To put this in perspective, it’s like driving your car for 24 hours each day for100 straight days. Without a doubt, your furnace works very hard for many months. What if your furnace were to break down?

At KW Lang Mechanical, Inc./Stovicek Heating and Cooling we have been servicing and installing all types and brands of HVAC equipment since 1927. The decision you make regarding repair vs. replacement should be made based on the age of your existing equipment and the cost of the repair. Furnaces from yesteryear were very simplistic and you can count on them lasting 25 years or more – there were not a lot of parts to break. Today’s furnaces are much more energy-efficient and provide better comfort – the drawback is that they will not last as long as the more simplistic furnaces of the past. A similar comparison would be a car from the 1950s or 1960s – easy to work on, not a lot of gadgets or parts to go bad – versus a recent model car where sometimes it’s difficult to figure out how to change the oil!

So….what decision should you make? The industry has set forth guidelines regarding this question. If your furnace is over 10 years of age and the repair is over $250.00, you should strongly consider a replacement. This would be the equivalent of a car with 150,000 miles on it…..fix this problem, and what will happen next? Another factor to consider is that the blower for your furnace is also responsible for pushing the cooled air from your air conditioner through your home. This is another factor which proves that your furnace is indeed working year-round. KW Lang Mechanical, Inc.,/Stovicek has trained technicians that can answer questions to help you make the proper decision for your situation.