How Long Can You Expect Your Furnace to Last?

A furnace is a vital part of a home in Colorado. Can you imagine getting through any winter without your furnace? It’s certainly not something you want to think about, much less actually go through.

Because we must rely so heavily on our furnaces here, we put a lot of “miles” on them. Eventually, even with the best routine maintenance and diligent repairs, those miles will catch up with your furnace and you’ll need to arrange for a replacement. How long can you expect to have your furnace around before then? We’ll look into this more below.

Average Furnace Service Life Expectancy

Once upon a time, furnaces could last 30–40 years. But these were old cast iron furnaces, and the trade off for that longevity was a less effective heating system that cost much more to run and wasn’t as safe to use. The modern furnace is more efficient, safe, and powerful—but it does have a shorter service life.

For natural gas furnaces, the average service life is 15–20 years. Electric furnaces often last longer, since they don’t have the effects of combustion to wear them down. This life expectancy takes maintenance into consideration. If a furnace doesn’t have annual maintenance, its service life will drop. A furnace that might easily make it to 15 years might not even clear 10 if it doesn’t have maintenance.

Repairs also affect a furnace’s lifespan. Neglecting to get repairs done promptly will cause a furnace to wear down faster, so always stay on top of any furnace repair in Parker, CO that you need. It not only means a longer life for the furnace, it helps to keep the furnace working at its highest safety and efficiency levels.

Detecting an Older Furnace in Decline

Once your furnace is over 15 years old, we recommend paying close attention to indications that it’s starting to wear down. You should always pay attention to signs like this, but for a younger furnace they often indicate a need for a repair.

These are the main indications of an older furnace that’s on its way out.

• Rise in operating costs: A well-maintained furnace will keep 95% of its energy efficiency until the last one or two years of its life. At that point, its efficiency will decline and the cost to run it will start to rise. If you see a sharp upward trend in your heating costs that you can’t account for, an old furnace may be to blame.
• Excessive repairs: No furnace should need repairs annually to keep it running. If you have to make annual repair appointments (or even more frequently), you have a furnace in bad shape that won’t get better.
• Expensive repairs: The cost of a repair can also warn of a furnace that’s almost finished. No single repair should cost more than half the price of a replacement furnace.
• Uneven heating: When a furnace isn’t heating all of the house and leaves cold spots in some rooms, it’s an indication it’s losing its heating capacity and can no longer keep up with normal demands.
• Too much noise: A furnace that has turned into noise pollution in your house is practically begging you to replace it.

If you feel on the fence about a furnace replacement, make an appointment with Peak Home Performance. We’ll help you determine the best course forward. “Guaranteed Comfort and Affordability.”