When is the Best Time to Replace My HVAC System?

Your HVAC system is perhaps the most heavily-used appliance in your home, and like any other appliance, that means it will eventually grow old, wear out, and need to be replaced. However, you don’t want to replace your system too early, since that means you’ll essentially be wasting money by not taking advantage of some of the useful life of your system. Replacing too late can also be costly—not only will you spend more on getting your system repaired, but you’ll probably be spending a bundle on energy that you wouldn’t have needed with a new system.

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So how can you tell that it’s the right time to invest in a new HVAC system? On this blog, our Birmingham HVAC services team will discuss a few of the signs you can see in your own system that may indicate that the time has come to replace your heating and cooling equipment.

Longer Cycles

Does your system seem to take longer to make your home comfortable? This could be because your system is simply getting older and it’s losing the ability to heat and cool your home like it once did. Generally, you can improve this with professional maintenance, including cleaning your coils, checking electrical connections, and more, but over time even the best-built system that’s cared for regularly is going to need to be replaced. So if you notice that your system takes a considerably longer amount of time to make your home comfortable, you may want to start preparing to replace it.

Could this be a sign of air leaks? Possibly. The easiest way to tell is if your system finally gets your home comfortable, but the temperature quickly fluctuates and it has to turn on again not long after. This usually means a significant amount of heat intrusion in summer or heat loss in winter, and the biggest cause of that is air leaks between the inside of your home, and unconditioned air outside, or even in your attic.

Frequent Breakdowns

Do you find that your system regularly needs repaired because things just keep going wrong? This can happen as systems age. When systems start to get older and older, different parts will approach the end of their lifespan. Unfortunately, they don’t all break at the same time, and that means you’ll need constant, frequent repairs. While these fixes can get your system working again, it’s only a matter of time before the next breakdown happens.

At that point, the question becomes is it actually economical to keep repairing your old system? When this is the case, the cost of repairs may actually be even more expensive than simply replacing your system. When you consider the much greater savings of not having to pay for repairs, as well as the lower energy costs from better efficiency, it’s easy to see how a new system could actually be cheaper.

Large Electric Bills

Let’s face it: energy costs are not getting any lower. In fact, conservative estimates guess that they’ll go up approximately three percent per year over the next two decades. When you consider that half of the energy the average American home consumes is committed to heating and cooling, it’s easy to see how running your system can quickly add up. And when you consider that older systems require even more energy to keep you comfortable, you could find yourself paying a lot more.

If you’re tired of getting an electric bill that you absolutely dread opening each month, the time may be here for you to replace your heating and cooling system. Modern systems are significantly more efficient—far more so than systems which were manufactured and installed as little as 10 years ago. By replacing an aging system, you’ll find that you’ll save a bundle on your energy costs, which will help you manage those bills and keep your monthly expenses as low as possible.

Interested in replacing an aging system? Call the experts at AUX Home Services at 205-979-0946 today!