4 Signs you Need to Replace your Furnace

Your furnace is one of the major appliances in your home and provides a comfortable indoor temperature during the cold winter months. However, like all other major appliances, a furnace will become worn and less efficient over time.

Understanding the warning signs that may indicate that a furnace has reached the end of its lifespan can help you determine when you should contact a professional HVAC contractor to have your furnace replaced. This will ensure that you don’t suddenly find yourself with an improperly functioning heater in the middle of winter.

1. Increased Energy Bills

If you notice that your monthly energy bills have increased, but you haven’t changed the temperature on the thermostat or made any major changes to your other appliance usage in your home, your furnace may be to blame.

An older furnace that has experienced a great deal of wear will not be as efficient as it has been in the past, which can cause it to work harder and longer to provide the same degree of heating to your home. If you notice a significant uptick in your energy bills and think that your furnace is to blame, the most cost-effective thing to do is to have the unit replaced before the energy bills pile up over a long period of time.

2. Drafts And Hot Spots

Another good indication that your furnace is not operating as efficiently as it should be is if you notice that there are excessive drafts and warm spots throughout your home.

Uneven temperatures can point to your furnace no longer being able to provide an adequate amount of heat to the entire area of your home. This is usually due to age, a lack of maintenance, and a general reduction inefficiency that can result from the former.

Beyond drafts and hot spots, if you find yourself constantly adjusting your thermostat because the temperature within your home seems to shift throughout the day, your furnace may no longer be powerful enough to provide comfortable heat to your home.

Either way, replacing your furnace can help make sure that you continue to enjoy comfortable temperature levels throughout your home during the winter months.

3. Strange Noises

All furnaces make a certain amount of noise when they turn on, but if you notice that your unit makes a banging or clanging sound, grinding or otherwise abnormal sound when the fan kicks in, you need to contact a professional immediately.

These noises point to some sort of mechanical damage within your unit, which can be made worse if you continue to run your furnace normally. A professional needs to take a look inside your unit and determine whether a part needs to be replaced or the entire furnace needs to go.

4. Constant Repairs

Take a minute to go over the past year or so. If you have had to constantly contact a professional to take a look at your furnace and repair or replace a number of individual parts, you may want to consider replacing the entire furnace instead of continuing to pay for one-off repairs.

Constant repairs to your furnace mean that the entire unit is aging, and other parts are likely going to fail or break in the near future. Replacing your entire unit can actually be the cost-effective thing to do in this case since you’ll avoid many smaller repair bills.

For any furnace replacement questions that you may have, feel free to contact Holstead’s. Our team of highly trained furnace professionals will be able to address all of your concerns and diagnose any problems you are facing with your furnace.