July 9, 2017
If one of your systems breaks, it may be time to replace both your air conditioner and furnace.
What do you do if either your AC or furnace is broken? You replace the broken one and leave the other one because it’s fine. Right? However, it might make sense to replace both systems at the same time. Here are a few things to consider if you find yourself in this situation.
The first step is to ask the advice of your St Louis HVAC technician. Upon inspection, an experienced technician may discern that your system is not actually broken. If they can fix the system then this may give you some extra time to consider your options or to save up for a replacement that you will eventually need.
Replacing Your HVAC System
If the technician does suggest that you need a replacement, then it is time to check out the rest of your system and check to see how it is working. Does it work as well as it should? What are your energy bills like? Do they seem to be too high?
You should also think about the age of your system. On average, an AC unit will last for around 10-15 years before it should be replaced. For a furnace, you’ll get a bit longer, perhaps 20 years. The closer you are to these limits, the less efficient and less cost-effective your system is likely to be. So, it could actually save you money to replace your system sooner rather than later.
Do You Have a Matched System?
When you buy your AC unit and your furnace at different times, you’ll end up always replacing them separately. If you buy them together, you can get a matched system which can save you in both terms of energy and money. With a matched system, you are using the same air handler. This may make your units smaller in size, saving you space, as well as reducing the expense for your equipment. With this type of system, the parts are tailor-made to work well with each other. This makes it far less likely that you’ll suffer from excessive wear and tear due to mismatching and so your units are likely to have a longer life and require less in the way of repairs.
Savings on Installation Costs
Of course, it’s not all about the cost of the equipment when you’re weighing up the financial aspects of buying new AC units or furnaces. There are the installation costs to consider as well. If you replace both systems at once, the bill for installation will be much lower than if you had them installed at different times.
Before replacing just the part of the system that is broken, ask your St Louis HVAC technician to check over your system and see if they think replacing the entire system now would be worthwhile.
A Scott-Lee Comfort Specialist will be happy to help you improve the comfort level of your home environment.
Call Scott-Lee Heating at (314) 200-0788
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