Old Gas Furnace, replace now or wait till the end of it? (furnaces, AC)
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Hi all, I live in central New Jersey, US.
My house has a gas furnace that was installed from the mid 1980s, so till now it is already 30 years old. But the furnace is currently still running/functioning, and does not need any repair work (yet).
So I wonder, should I wait till it die? (if it died in middle of cold winter I think I will be in hot water). Or should I replace it now? thank you for all your opinions.
The biggest problem with a 30yo furnace would probably be the heat exchanger. Most back then were regular mild steel- very susceptible to rust and corrosion. That of course can lead to CO poisoning.
Today's furnaces have SS heat exchanger= no rust; no deterioration.
It's way past it's expected lifespan and a major repair...gas valve, ignition module, or fan motor will fail during the heating season, not when it's not being used. If you wait, you'll get stuck choosing between an expensive repair on an old heater or will be waiting in the cold for a spot in the contractor's schedule.
You stated that the furnace doesn't need any repairs so I assume that's an opinion from a qualified heating contractor. If my assumption is wrong, then your assumptions may be far from accurate.
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Has it been serviced? Many of the parts can be replaced to keep it going, I would definitely do that now to be sure to get through the winter, and consider replacement late next summer/early fall when the HVAC people are not as busy and temperatures are mild.
Has it been serviced? Many of the parts can be replaced to keep it going, I would definitely do that now to be sure to get through the winter, and consider replacement late next summer/early fall when the HVAC people are not as busy and temperatures are mild.
^^^ That's the best answer yet. Have it serviced for this winter season and then wait to replace it later in the Spring/Summer when the prices on replacement is much lower. I've replace my A/C unit in the fall after the prices dropped from the summer time high and before the new year models which end up being higher yet. There was very little if any change in technology between years but the price was much higher. Doing things at the end of the season is always a good idea and the servicemen are always interested in keeping busy in off season times.
Has it been serviced? Many of the parts can be replaced to keep it going, I would definitely do that now to be sure to get through the winter, and consider replacement late next summer/early fall when the HVAC people are not as busy and temperatures are mild.
We replaced our gas furnace in 2013 when it was 25 years old. We immediately saw lower house heating costs. It was replaced when we had A/C installed. We had also replaced the gas furnace in a previous home at about the 25 year old period, (It had actually failed).
There is a false assumption that "old" == "gonna fail catastrophically real soon now".
I have had experience with lots of single family homes that have had a gas fired forced air heat from the 1950s through the present and have very good experience with them being EXTREMELY reliable IF they are maintained. That means a good check-up by an honest technician every year or so, a nice DRY operating environment, regular changing of filters, not letting the house sit unoccupied for long periods, etc.
It is frankly a WASTE OF MONEY to "proactively" rip out a functioning furnace. If there is an opportunity to replace the central AC along with the furnace that MIGHT make the most sense, as typically the "savings" on just a new gas furnace take far to long to have any meaningful "payback period". The other thing that I have seen repeatedly is that the highest efficiency units simply are too costly and prone to problems. Unless you can get some kind of BIG incentive to go with that type unit it is more cost effective to stick with the MODERATE efficency unit and use any additional budgeted money to UPGRADE YOUR HOME'S insulation / weather sealing. MUCH BETTER PAY BACK!!!
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