Life Expectancy Of Central A/C And Furnace ?
We built our house 13 years ago. We've had some cooling problems the past couple of summers and this week when temps reached 90 we turned the system on and the condenser fan isn't working. When contractor checked it last fall he indicated that it appeared to be working correctly and that all pressures appeared correct. However, he also mentioned that our furnace appeared to be getting close to the end of it's life (it's worked fine all winter, but I don't want to risk CO problems). How long should I expect these to last? My assumption was that they should last at least 25 years so to say the least I'm a bit unhappy with the prospect of replacing either one, much less both.
Answer:
My house was built in 1965. I have the original central heating and air conditioning system that works just fine. It has never required any service other than oiling the fan bearings and frequent filter changes. I have a rental house built in 1976 with central heat and air still going strong with no problems. I live in Cleveland, and was told by just about everyone to replace it when I bought the house last year. I called an HVAC specialist in to repair the central air conditioner which I broke (dropped a window on the lines--blew all the freon out). It was installed in 1975 and is still fine (after replacing the freon). He also checked out my anchient furnace and said it had no problems at all. My highest gas bill was $120 last winter (2,200 sq. ft. colonial), so a replacement furnace would have quite a long payback period. Also, there is almost nothing that can go wrong with the furnace, as it is very simple. I have no plans to replace it. What's my point? I guess it depends on how well the furnace is built. I have talked to several people that are not getting long life out of newer furnaces, but I'm sure there are reliable brands. The bottom line is wait for it to have some symptoms before replacing it. Get a good nighthawk brand CO detector in every sleeping area if that is a concern. As for efficiency, a well designed install can be quite economical even with an old furnace. Whoever installed the sysem in my house did an excellent job making sure there were no high or low pressure areas that would cause heat loss through walls and windows.