Summer is ending soon and the wild Colorado winter is about to begin. Fall is the perfect time of year to make the decision to replace both your air conditioning unit and your furnace at the same time.
There are many benefits to having your HVAC replaced all at once. Keep reading to discover what Ideal Comfort HVAC a Johnstown’s locally owned and operated heating and cooling system service company believes is your definitive guide to replacing your AC and Furnace concurrently.
Homeowners are often faced with the decision to replace their furnace and/or air conditioning system. Usually many are not faced with having to install both at the same time.
Have you ever considered replacing your furnace and air conditioner at the same time, even if one is still working?
If your year-round comfort matters in both your home and wallet, then replacing your entire HVAC system might be a good idea and this may be the guide for you to explore.
This is a comprehensive guide that will show you the benefits of replacing both systems at the same time.
Two New Systems = One Comfortable Home
REPLACE YOUR FURNACE AND AIR CONDITIONER AT THE SAME TIME IF IT IS OVER A CERTAIN AGE
Remember, the average lifespan of your air conditioner, if properly maintained, is 10-15 years. For your furnace, it’s nearly double that, at 20-30 years (According to the National Association of Home Builders – “Life Expectancy of Home Components”).
So, if you do the math, it makes sense to consider replacing your furnace and your air conditioner at the same time only if your furnace is over 15 years old. When you replace your furnace, you need to detach it from your evaporator coil and other internal components.
The thing is, these components will already be detached if you are replacing your air conditioner, so it actually makes more financial sense, in this situation, to replace the furnace at the same time as the air conditioner. This is because you will be paying a lower amount in labor work completed.
Replace Your Furnace and Air Conditioner at the Same Time if You Buy a High-Efficiency Air Conditioner (with a SEER rating above 16).
This one’s a bit hard because you can actually get an old furnace to work well in tandem with a new, mid-efficiency air conditioner. But you’ll need a very skilled technician who knows the HVAC equipment inside and out to do so. You see, you definitely have to get matching air conditioner components (condensing unit and evaporator coil) to get the high-efficiency you’d like.
But the furnace, although itself not important to AC efficiency, also contains the blower motor that runs your air conditioner. The blower motor (aka “the fan”) is what actually pushes air through the ductwork in your house. If the existing furnace is not rigged with a variable-speed motor, and you buy an air conditioner over 16 SEER, then you will sacrifice some of the energy efficiency in your new AC that you are over-paying for.
In other words, mixing and matching components is a varsity job, and although possible, only do this if you are installing a new 13, 14, or 16 SEER air conditioner. Of course, you could put a variable-speed blower motor into your old furnace…but, putting a variable-speed motor into an old furnace is kind of like dropping a Ferrari engine into a Chevy.
It’s definitely possible, but you really shouldn’t do it, plus, it gets cost-prohibitive. So, if you have your heart set on high-SEER equipment, then replace the furnace too.
REPLACE THE AIR CONDITIONER AND FURNACE AT THE SAME TIME IF YOUR JOB IS DIFFICULT TO ACCESS
Do you live in the middle of nowhere? Or, is your furnace buried in a 2-foot crawl-space underneath your house, requiring the technician to crawl through 17-feet of spiders, mud, and crud to access (which is always the case when our guys are on vacation, and Tim gets to fill in)? If so, then you might want to consider replacing your furnace and air conditioner at the same time.
One of the biggest factors that affect the price of your new furnace or air conditioner installation, is the difficulty. Unfortunately, many contractors take advantage of this and prey on people, touting “this is an expensive job because it’s so difficult to blah, blah, blah.” Although this violates the code of ethics all contractors should have, that doesn’t mean that all contractors are like that.
Difficulty truly is a huge job factor for us to consider when writing a contract, so if you live in the middle of nowhere, maybe you should have them replace the furnace and air conditioner at the same time.
What is considered a difficult place to access? An attic or closet is not considered a difficult to reach spot. If your furnace is in a difficult to reach spot, like under a house in Manhattan Beach, then you will definitely know it.
CONSIDER REPLACING YOUR FURNACE AND AIR CONDITIONER AT THE SAME TIME IF YOU ARE RETIRING SOON
We get a lot of calls from elderly people who are retiring, or have already retired (lucky) and want to get their houses in tip-top shape before living on a fixed income. In these circumstances, it is also worth considering replacing your furnace and air conditioner at the same time. That way, you have hit the reset button, and can live comfortably in your house without worrying about it for a while.
If you are thinking about replacing your AC and Furnace in Johnstown, Colorado, reach out to Ideal Comfort HVAC! We are your locally owned and operated HVAC Contractor in the Johnstown, Colorado area!
Schedule today! Or contact us!