Furnaces are a primary method to keep homes warm over the winter along the North Carolina coast. While they will serve your home for a long time, they will not last forever. The average gas furnace has an expected lifespan of 15 to 20 years, and an electric furnace can last 20 to 30 years. However, your furnace may have a shorter or longer service life, depending on a variety of factors. This guide will explore those factors and how you can extend your furnace’s lifespan.
Properly Sized System
One of the more important decisions when choosing a furnace is matching the system’s size to your home’s needs. Getting a larger system won’t more effectively heat your home. Instead, an oversized system wastes energy and puts excess strain on the system, which can increase the number of repairs and decrease the service life.
In moderate climates, your furnace should run a few times an hour for about 10 or 15 minutes. An oversized system usually short cycles. When it starts up, the powerful system quickly warms the area near the registers. The warmth will often reach the thermostat before the farthest reaches of your home are warm, so the system switches off. But because the home is not fully warmed, it will turn on again quickly. The start-up process uses the most energy and puts the most stress on the components. As a result, you’ll be looking at more frequent repairs and a shorter system life. If you have added on to your home, you may need to consult our technicians to get a right-sized unit installed in your home.
Professional Installation
How your system was installed will also affect how long it will last. This is why professional installation is critical. Inexperienced or DIY installation can leave the system running inefficiently and inadvertently damaging some components. This both increases the cost of running the system and shaves time from the system’s effective lifespan. Further, attempting DIY installation can also invalidate the factory warranty, leaving you paying for repairs in the event of premature component failure.
Furnace Location
You may not have much choice over where you install a furnace in your home. However, where it’s located may affect its lifespan. For instance, a furnace installed in an attic or crawlspace might have a shorter lifespan. A furnace contends with higher temperature in the attic, adding strain while it works to heat your home. Installed in a crawlspace, it’ll have colder ambient temperatures, additional moisture, and pests. If you must install your furnace in a crawlspace, consider encapsulating the space to reduce the effects of moisture, pests, and temperature swings. In an attic, ensure you have adequate ventilation, including an energy recovery ventilator that can help reduce thermal loss.
Maintenance Habits
Maintenance is critical to keeping your furnace working efficiently and getting its maximum lifespan. Our maintenance service includes deep cleaning the system, tightening mounting hardware and electrical connections, and optimizing component performance. Manufacturers typically recommend getting professional maintenance every fall to minimize system wear and maximize operational efficiency. Manufacturers see maintenance as having such a significant impact on system wear that it’s often included as a term for keeping the factory warranty valid.
Frequency of Filter Replacements
In addition to professional maintenance, how frequently you change your filter will determine how much strain your system experiences. Filters slowly clog, restricting the airflow through the system, reducing its operational efficiency, and increasing the wear it experiences. Most air filters need changing every 30 to 90 days. If you have pets, you may need to change it more often. To prevent the system from running with a clogged filter, plan to check it every month. When you do, gently vacuum the dust from the intake side to get an efficiency boost between replacements.
Using a Smart Thermostat
Smart thermostats offer a range of features that can decrease how much your system runs, thus helping conserve energy and making the system last longer. You can set your thermostat to automatically adjust your home’s temperature when you’re not there, reducing the energy you consume and the wear on your system. According to the Department of Energy (DoE), you can reduce your annual heating costs by up to 10% by reducing your household temperature by 7 to 10 degrees for at least eight hours a day.
Temperature Settings
How you use your system will also determine how much wear your system experiences. There’s a balance between a temperature that keeps your home comfortable versus one that reduces the wear on your system. The DoE recommends setting your thermostat in winter to between 68 and 70 degrees. Raising your temperature beyond this can add excessive strain to your system, especially when the overnight temperature outside drops into the 30s. The closer the temperature setting is to the air temperature outside, the less wear and strain on the system. Put on sweatshirts and use blankets whenever possible rather than raising the thermostat setting.
Household Humidity
Your home’s humidity plays a key role in how hard your furnace has to work. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests the ideal indoor relative humidity is 30% to 50%. More humid air is more difficult to heat, so higher humidity makes your system work harder and increases the risk of humidity-related issues. Air that’s too dry allows airborne contaminants to remain in the air longer, clogging the furnace and restricting airflow through your system. Use a humidifier or dehumidifier as needed to maintain the proper humidity in your home.
Indoor Air Quality
Beyond humidity, the air quality in your home will also affect how quickly your furnace experiences wear and to what degree. This is especially true for particulate matter like pet dander, dust, and pollen. You can reduce the wear on your system by working with our experienced indoor air quality professionals to find the best options to manage your home’s air quality. Beyond your system’s air filter, we can install whole-home air scrubbers or ultraviolet light purifiers.
Furnace Quality
Like most products, furnace performance is subject to the quality of the system you have. That said, spending more on a furnace doesn’t always mean you’re getting the best quality for your home. Plan to replace your furnace before it becomes an emergency, so you have time to research. Talk to our trusted HVAC technicians about what is good for your home. Not all homes can work effectively with the same systems, so it’s important to know the size and type of furnace your home is compatible with to know what options you have.
Property owners around Wilmington, NC trust our more than 20 years of experience at Green Dot Heating & Air when they need home HVAC and electrical services. Our award-winning team provides air conditioning and heater installation, maintenance and repair, indoor air quality solutions, ductwork installation and replacement, HVAC zoning. We also offer residential electrical services, including repairs, panel installation and upgrades, generators, rewiring, surge protection, EV charging, and indoor and outdoor lighting.
Call to schedule a new furnace consultation with one of our NATE-certified installation technicians to explore the options for replacing your aging system. We also service heat pumps!
