Should I Repair or Replace My Home Heating System?

Now there’s a question we know how to answer, and with a high degree of confidence. Of course, when you’ve been serving the indoor comfort needs of families and businesses alike for more than 40 years as we have, you learn a thing or two about helping your customers make all the right decisions.

So to get started, the most important thing we can tell you about whether it’s best to repair or replace your aging heating system is “it depends.” Not only that, but it also depends on a lot of things, and there’s very little we can ascertain without inspecting your home heating repair system first hand.

Still, and not wanting to send you away from this blog “empty handed,” here are some general rules of thumb indicating it MIGHT be time to replace vs. repair:

Steadily rising utility costs.

Today’s newer heating systems must have a minimum 83% energy efficiency rating, with some systems delivering 95% and even greater energy efficiency. Compare that to a system that’s at least ten years old and probably running at no better than 60% energy efficiency. That, in turn, adds up to a lot of extra utility costs. If your system hasn’t been professionally serviced in more than a year, then you can improve its operating efficiency by scheduling service now. But sooner or later – perhaps even now – it simply makes more sense to invest a replacement system where the energy savings can cover its cost in as little as 3 or 4 years. After that, the energy savings become a legitimate net gain.

Age of your system.

Home heating systems are designed to last 15-20 years. Which is to say, they’re not designed to last forever. Some people wait until it’s breathed its last before replacing it, while others proactively replace it not wanting to incur the inevitable repair costs of a system hanging on for dear life. Which camp to you more closely align with?

Frequent repair problems.

Not every heating system makes lasts as long as 15-20 years; some fail much sooner than that. So regardless of its age, a good indication that it might be time to replace it when the repair bills keep adding up and something else always seems to go wrong.