Signs your furnace is dying
Just like your air conditioner, your furnace won’t last forever. Even after years of good service keeping your home and family warm through the coldest of winters, eventually, a time will come when it needs to be replaced.
When and where that time will come, however, that you find yourself bundled up with a blanket on the couch in front of a space heater because your furnace died on you can be difficult to know. Furnaces don’t exactly come with an expiration date printed on them and depending on a bunch of different factors your furnace could last you for a long, long time.
Replacing your furnace isn’t exactly a trivial expense, so being caught off guard when your furnace is dying isn’t a situation you’ll want to find yourself in. The better you can predict the impending death of your furnace, the more time you give yourself to prepare and evaluate all your options.
Fortunately, while there isn’t a clear cut date that your furnace will go out there are pretty consistent signs your furnace is dying you can keep an eye out for.
Furnace Age
Each furnace doesn’t come with an expiration date, but furnaces do in fact have a general life expectancy that can generally be relied on. For the most part, a home’s furnace will carry a 15-20 year lifespan. However, this 15-20 year span can depend heavily on the quality of care and service your furnace has received over the course of its lifetime.
If you have had your furnace seasonally maintained each year, there is a good chance your furnace will last more towards 20 years or more. If not, well there is a good chance your furnace may die out on you sooner. However, if your furnace is anywhere in that lifespan range or over and accompanied by some of these other issues, this is one of the most common signs your furnace is dying. It could be that age has simply become a factor and it is time for a replacement.
High Bills
One sign that a furnace is nearing the end of its life is a drastic drop in its efficiency. A dying furnace will need to work extra hard just to meet the level of performance that was once considered normal. This can become pretty apparent if you begin seeing your furnace having a hard time getting up to the temperature you have set on the thermostat, cold spots in your home, and is most obvious when you look at your monthly bills.
As your furnace works overtime to keep up, it will require more and more energy to do so. This will start adding up to more money coming out of your pocket each month with your utility bills. If you begin to notice your heating bill steadily rising higher and higher, the efficiency and quality of your furnace are likely in question.
Flame Quality
While we obviously recommend leaving repairs and maintenance of your furnace to the pros, it is also a good idea to become familiar with your own furnace. This can not only give you a higher comfort level when talking to your future HVAC technicians, but it can also give you good direction as to things to look at when you feel like you’re having issues. A great example is your furnace flame sensor.
This sensor sits near the pilot light of your furnace and serves as an indication that there is in fact a fire present in your furnace. This flame, when everything is normal, should be blue and burning strong and bright. If you notice your flame sensor light burning yellow or has a weak or fluttering light this is an indication that gas is not being burnt properly or there is another issue. This problem may be solved with some cleaning or repairs, but if it continues to linger it can be a sign of imminent failure.
Weird Sounds
It is easy to get paranoid about the sounds your furnace makes, especially if it is already acting up. However, during the course of usage, your furnace makes a variety of different noises, some normal and some not so normal. It is important to be able to tell the difference between the two.
When your furnace kicks on, hearing a pop or click is completely normal. When your furnace is running, you may hear a gentle humming or whirring sound of air being pushed through. These are all completely normal. However, squealing, clanging, grinding, screeching, banging, and other unpleasant noises may be a bad sign. As the furnace ages, components inside your furnace can wear out or break down. These sounds may be an indication of damage, wear, or other signs your furnace is dying and needs to be looked at immediately.
If you notice any signs your furnace is dying, it is probably time to start making a plan to replace it. But before you jump the gun, let the Indianapolis heating experts at Hoosier Indoor Air take a look! If you think your furnace is dying, it may not be. A few simple repairs may have your furnace working food as new.
But, if you do indeed need a new furnace we can help you with that too. Hoosier Indoor Air is a Bryant Certified HVAC service company and can help you choose a top of the line Bryant furnace with a plan inside your budget to help keep you and home warm all fall and winter long.
Call 317.888.9111 today or schedule heating repair service online. While you are at it, ask us about our Comfort Guard program that can provide your HVAC system with year-round care and preventative maintenance for just $18 a month!