When the time comes for a new, updated furnace, you should consider an AC upgrade as well. If an HVAC professional makes this suggestion to
you, it's not a ploy to sell you something you don't need. Here is why you should consider swapping both pieces of equipment.
1. Your Original AC Can Cause Imbalance
Central heating and cooling appliances often come as a package. Your furnace and AC likely come from the same manufacturer and received
installations at the same time. The manufacturer designed the appliances to work together, and a technician made sure both worked in sync.
When you replace one unit but not the other, you risk upsetting that balance. Your heating and cooling can experience far more issues and even
fail prematurely. Mismatched appliances can work together, but not always. Swapping both appliances takes out the guesswork.
2. Your Equipment Can Age and Wear Faster
If both appliances arrived at the same time, they also share the same age. That means all the wear and tear experienced by one may also have
occurred in the other.
If you swap out the furnace but leave the AC, the mismatch can worsen the wear of the AC. The AC won't operate as well and will struggle to
keep up. Conversely, the older AC can cause your newer furnace to wear faster than it should.
Since the two appliances work in tandem, you'll have one that wants to perform one way and another that can't keep up. This will cause one or
the both of them to work harder to compensate for each other. That leads to unnecessary wear.
3. Your HVAC System Can Lose Energy Efficiency Benefits
Over the years, manufacturers have put forth a lot of effort to make their appliances do more for homes while consuming less energy. Appliances
become more energy efficient practically every year. Modern air conditioning systems have a government-mandated minimum SEER rating of 13.
The standard AFUE rating for modern furnaces is 80%.
A higher SEER or AFUE rating means more efficiency and less maintenance cost over time. Older systems tend to have ratings much lower than
these current standards.
Adding in a modern, efficient furnace but matching it with an old, outdated AC will negate those efficiency gains. Sometimes, that mismatch of
efficiency can actually lower the overall efficiency of your entire HVAC system.
4. Your Energy Bills Can Rise
Installing a new furnace and AC can come at a cost many people don't want to consider. However, the added initial expense will turn into more
cost savings over time. You will have to continuously pay for all the issues associated with an HVAC system that runs poorly, wears faster, and
lacks energy efficiency.
By contrast, a matched system will cost you less in energy costs month after month. Energy efficiency will give you the largest cost savings, but
that's not the only way a matched pair will help your energy budget.
Maintenance for both appliances can happen at the same time. Your HVAC contractor will have an easier time of diagnosing problems and
making repairs. This can all save you money and continue to save you money well into the future. Also, both appliances will have a warranty that
covers the entire system.
For some people, replacing both pieces of equipment at the same time simply isn't a possibility. If you cannot replace both, you should make sure your HVAC contractor spends time aligning and balancing your old and new HVAC equipment as best as they can.
You can still have issues, but the more care the contractor takes to properly install your new equipment,
the fewer issues you will experience. At A-1 Finchum Heating & Cooling, we can help if you need a new
furnace, AC, or both. Contact us
for all your heating and
cooling needs.
