The furnace warming your Cincinnati area home won't last forever. Nobody has a crystal ball, but a strategy to deal with the inevitable will make its end more bearable and your home more comfortable. 

Variables to Weigh

While the national average life span for a forced air system may be between 15 and 20 years, your system may have more years in it than most. Consider these factors:

• Annual maintenance and inspection prevents surprises.
• System balancing keeps efficiency up and repairs down.
• Programmable thermostats even out heating demands.
• Harsher winters increase furnace use.
• Proper home insulation relieves furnace loads.

Warning Signals

If your system is becoming unreliable, fails to adequately heat your Cincinnati area home or needs frequent servicing, its end is near. If it's older than about 15 years, it probably won't survive another decade. While nobody can accurately tell you the exact time it will finally fail, planning for that moment will cushion the blow and increase the likelihood that your family will not suffer. Some signs of impending failure:

• Efficiency suddenly drops.
• You find yourself feeling more cold spots.
• Increased incidents of cold air blowing at startup.
• The system is short-cycling or has extremely long firings.

Strategies for Replacement

Ideally, you want your furnace replaced when it's not in demand, so summer is a good time for a number of reasons. When you know the system’s warranty has expired and your around the 10-year mark, start setting funds aside for a new system. Saving a little each month will make replacement manageable without worry about financing. Not needing heat reduces family anxiety during replacement.

Time to Consider Extras

A scheduled installation may provide you the opportunity to enhance your HVAC system with useful accessories, such as:

• Whole-house humidifier to properly humidify the home
• High efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration system to reduce pollutants
• Zoning to tightly control heating and cooling
• UV germicidal light inside HVAC equipment to reduce allergens

For more help when considering a furnace replacement for your Cincinnati area home, contact us at Tri-County Heating & Cooling. 

Image via Shutterstock.com