If you live in either Loudoun County or Fairfax County, VA, you know just how cold it can get to be in these places throughout the winter months. It’s not uncommon at all for the temperature to drop down into the 30s, 20s, and sometimes even the teens or single digits during the wintertime.
With this in mind, you’re going to want to make sure that you have a fully-functioning furnace in your home at all times. If you have a damaged furnace or even just a worn furnace, you should consider doing furnace replacement ASAP.
A new furnace will make your home way more comfortable than it was before when winter arrives. It’ll also prevent you and your family from encountering health complications that can arise when you rely on an old furnace.
We’ve put together a furnace replacement guide that will help you decide when you’ll need to invest in a new furnace. Check it out below.
The Lifespan of a Furnace
The furnace that you have in your home is obviously not going to last forever. You should keep a close eye on its age and plan to do furnace replacement when it gets to be on the older side.
Generally speaking, the average furnace is going to last for between 15 and 25 years. Some furnaces might not last that long if you don’t work to maintain them, while other furnaces might stick around for a lot longer than that if you get lucky.
But the average furnace lifespan will fall somewhere in that 15 to 25-year gap. If your furnace is older than that right now, that might be reason enough to begin shopping around for a new furnace that you can put in place for the winter.
Signs You Might Need to Buy a New Furnace
If you have an extremely old furnace in your home, that will be a sign that you need to arrange to have furnace replacement performed soon. But it isn’t going to be the only sign that will indicate you need to arrange to do furnace replacement.
You should also look out for some other signs that will suggest you need to replace a furnace with a new one. At the very least, you’ll want to have a professional heating and cooling company come out to your home to inspect and service your furnace if you see any of these signs.
Your Furnace Is Making More Noise Than Usual
When you turn your furnace on at the start of the winter, it’s going to create a little bit of noise in your home. It’s perfectly normal for your furnace to make noise when you start it for the first time in a while.
But after that, it should quiet down and sound like it usually does. If it continues to make more noise than normal, that’s going to be a sign that you might need to have furnace repairs or possibly even furnace replacement done.
You don’t want to hear your furnace squeak, bang, or make any other sounds that don’t sound good. It often means that there are parts inside it that aren’t working like they’re supposed to.
In some cases, you might be able to breathe life back into your furnace rather than replacing it. But you will eventually need to replace a furnace that’s extra noisy in your basement or utility closet.
Your Furnace Is Struggling to Heat Your Home Evenly
Your home’s furnace is designed to heat up every room in your home evenly. If it’s not capable of doing this, this could be another sign that you need to arrange to have furnace replacement done.
There might be some instances in which you can tinker with the air registers in your home to heat it up more evenly. But if this doesn’t work, you’re going to need to have a heating and cooling company come out to take a look at it.
Unfortunately, a furnace that is heating a home up unevenly may need to be replaced. You might also want to consider obtaining a slightly larger furnace that is better equipped to heat your home.
Your Furnace Is Sending Your Energy Bills Soaring
All indications are that everyone is going to be spending a lot more than usual when it comes to their energy bills this winter. Energy rates have skyrocketed, and that’s going to lead to higher energy bills for the vast majority of Americans.
But if you notice that your energy bills are even higher than you were anticipating they would be this winter, that could be a sign that your furnace isn’t as efficient as it used to be. You might have to put a more energy-efficient unit in place to bring your energy bills back down to earth.
You will also want to be even more diligent than usual about working to maintain your furnace at this time. The better you are about maintaining your furnace, the more efficient it will be when you get it up and running on a regular basis.
Your Furnace Is Creating Burning Smells
When your furnace sits idle during the spring, summer, and parts of the fall, a good amount of dust will build up in it. As a result, you might sense a slight burning smell in your home when you fire your furnace up for the first in the late fall or early winter.
This burning smell won’t be anything you’ll need to worry about too much. As long as it goes away within a few minutes, you’ll be in the clear.
But if it smells like your furnace is burning long after you start it up for the first time or, worse, if it smells like it’s burning every time you run it, that’s going to indicate a more serious issue. You won’t want to ignore this problem for any longer than you have to.
Your Furnace Is Negatively Impacting the Air Quality in Your Home
Your furnace has a filter in it that stops dirt, dust, and other debris from sneaking into your heating system. You will need to get into the habit of replacing this furnace filter at least every three months throughout the year.
When you do this, it should help to keep the air in your home clean while your furnace is on. But if it doesn’t, it could suggest that you have something else going on with your furnace.
When a furnace is on its last legs, it’s often going to have a detrimental impact on the air quality in a home. If the air in your home seems dustier and dirtier than usual, your furnace could be to blame, and furnace replacement may be the only solution to this problem.
Your Furnace Is Constantly in Need of Repairs
You’re going to have to do some furnace repairs over time. There will be individual parts within your furnace that will wear down on you and force you to replace them.
But if you’re repairing your home’s furnace every time you turn around, you’re going to get sick and tired of it. You might want to stop spending all your money on furnace repairs and perform furnace replacement instead.
The Dangers Associated With Using an Old Furnace
You may be able to get away with using a furnace that’s on the older side for a little while without worrying too much about it. But there are some dangers that you might face down the line if you push an old furnace too far past its expiration date.
Here are several dangers associated with using an old furnace and refusing to do furnace replacement:
- Your old furnace could start a fire in your home
- It could allow carbon monoxide to leak out into your home
- It could affect the air in your home to the point where you and your family members are always sick
You also might find that having an old furnace could take a huge toll on the value of your home. If you attempt to sell it anytime soon, you might find that people won’t be willing to pay top dollar for it because of your old furnace.
How to Purchase a New Furnace
Are you ready to do furnace replacement? If so, there are a series of important steps you should take to make sure you’re able to get a top-of-the-line furnace installed in your home in no time at all.
You can put a new furnace in place of your old one by working your way through these steps:
- Search for a reputable heating and cooling company in your area
- Ask a company to inspect your old furnace to see if they would recommend replacing it
- Have a company show you some of the furnaces that would be best for your specific home
- Pick out the furnace that you like best for your home
- Clear out the area surrounding your old furnace so that a company can remove it
- Sit back and wait for your new furnace to be installed
- See which furnace maintenance steps a company would suggest you do during the first few years
The good news is that it shouldn’t take you too long to secure a new furnace for your home. A heating and cooling company should be able to install it for you within just a few days.
But you should avoid waiting until the 11th hour to replace a furnace when it’s getting ready to conk out on you. If you do this, you might be left without heat in your home for a couple of days while you wait for your new furnace to arrive.
The Cost of a New Furnace
“How much does a furnace cost?” is a question that people have a tough time answering a lot of the time. Since homeowners only have to replace furnaces once every two decades or so, they aren’t always aware of what the latest and greatest furnaces cost.
The price you’ll pay for a new furnace is going to be at least a few thousand dollars and sometimes up over the $10,000 mark. But the total cost will depend on different factors like:
- The furnace brand that you choose
- The size of the furnace you buy
- The heating and cooling company you hire to replace a furnace for you
It would be well worth shopping around for a new furnace as much as you can. You may be able to save yourself a pretty penny by purchasing one furnace over another one without sacrificing things like comfort.
Your best bet is going to be to call on a well-respected heating and cooling company to lend a hand to you when you need to invest in a new furnace. They’ll be able to walk you through your options and show you some that will fit nicely into your budget.
Contact Us If You Need to Schedule Furnace Replacement
Now that you have a better idea of when you’ll need to replace a furnace, you should be able to tell whether or not you need to do it now. If you do, you can count on us to provide you with stellar furnace replacement services.
You can also rely on us to set you up with one of the best furnaces in the business. We’ll make the entire process of installing a new furnace quick and easy for you and ensure you’re able to stay warm all winter long.
Contact us now to request a quote for furnace replacement.