Signs It’s Time to Replace an Aging Furnace

A big benefit of keeping up with regular furnace maintenance is that it stops the furnace from losing its energy efficiency and wasting power. But maintenance can only stop a furnace’s decline for so long. Eventually, age will catch up to it and you’ll begin to see higher and higher costs to run the furnace each winter. If repairs and maintenance aren’t turning the situation around, it’s best to get a new furnace.

The average service life of a furnace depends on its type and how well it’s been maintained. The standard life expectancy of a gas furnace is 15 years, and for an electric furnace it’s 20 years. Lack of maintenance will drop this down several years. We strongly advise replacing a furnace that’s over its service life expectancy, even if it still seems to be outwardly working fine. It will soon experience a rapid decline and may even develop safety hazards. 

The sound of a furnace running is part of the regular noises of winter in your house. You probably don’t even notice it most of the time. When the furnace starts to become a noisy nuisance, making loud and odd noises, it likely means it’s ready to retire. 

During maintenance, our technicians will carefully examine your furnace for any safety concerns. One we watch out for is cracks in the heat exchanger of a gas furnace. This usually occurs because the furnace is old and has started to corrode. Although we can replace the heat exchanger, this is an expensive repair to make for a furnace that’s developing significant problems from age, and often replacing the whole furnace is the best choice.

Is your furnace simply not doing the job you once expected from it? Cold spots appearing in the house are an early warning the furnace is beginning to lose its heating capacity. When you start pushing the thermostat higher and higher to stay comfortable, it means the furnace isn’t keeping up—and this may mean the system is starting to fail.