How Long Does a Furnace Last on Average?

A home’s furnace is an essential appliance. Without it, homeowners living in frigid climates or wintry weather may experience extreme cold, burst pipes, and an uncomfortably freezing home environment.

But how long does a furnace last? With excellent care and maintenance, your home’s furnace could last twenty years. However, most furnaces call it quits before reaching that age. This trend may have more to do with poor maintenance than faulty design.

What Is a Furnace?

A furnace is an appliance that generates heated air and disperses that air throughout a home. Boilers are similar, but they use boiling water to create a steamy stream that is then propelled along a home’s inner walls.

This is achieved through a system of pipes or radiators. Furnaces, on the other hand, produce dry, heated air. As such, homes with a furnace may be less humid than those with boilers. However, a furnace generally costs less to operate than a boiler.

Though homes in sub-tropical climates may not contain a boiler or a furnace, these appliances are commonplace throughout most of the United States, especially in areas that see annual snowfall.

A home’s furnace could be powered by gas or electricity. Gas-powered furnaces tend to work more quickly than electric varieties, but they can also be somewhat wasteful. Additionally, any appliance powered by gas could become lethal should that gas leak.

For these reasons, many homeowners opt to replace their old boiler or furnace with a modern, energy-efficient electric model. Still, your home’s power supply and location (and your personal preferences) could help you choose the right replacement.

How Long Does a Furnace Last?

The average life of a gas furnace varies from model to model. A reasonable average is about a decade. Electric gas furnaces may last slightly longer due to a decreased risk of fire damage.

The average cost to replace and install a furnace is about $4,500. Inexpensive options could cost less than $3,000, while more lofty installations could cost more than $6,000. Consequently, it’s crucial to take care of your furnace.

If you haven’t maintained your furnace in a while (or ever), now is the time to take action. The longer you leave your furnace to collect dust and debris, the more likely it is that you’ll be replacing it shortly.

Common Furnace Problems

Let’s discuss some of the most common problems that homeowners experience with their furnaces. This information could help you discover a simple fix to a furnace issue. It may also help to guide you in the direction of a knowledgeable technician.

Generally, furnaces begin to show signs of wear and tear due to:

• Poor Maintenance
• Filthy Filters
• Faulty Thermostat

By addressing these potential issues and taking care to prevent them, you could lengthen the lifespan of your furnace and save yourself a ton of time, money, and grief.

Poor Maintenance

Maintaining a home heating system can feel overwhelming, especially if you’ve never worked with HVAC systems. Sadly, many homeowners purchase a property without understanding the amount of maintenance that goes along with it.

You could perform a single home maintenance task every day but still find things you forgot about. Because furnaces are primarily used during the cold weather months, there’s a decent portion of the year where they’re not being acknowledged.

If you know that you’re not great at keeping up with scheduled home maintenance tasks, it may be worthwhile to hire a technician to keep track of your maintenance for you. Of course, you should be changing your own filters.

Filthy Filters

Your home’s HVAC system is more than likely equipped with an air filter. This filter helps keep your household’s interior air supply clean and allergen-free.

While the standard recommended change rate for in-home air filters is every three months, many tenants forget to perform this task. Over time, this causes their AC and heating system to work harder at maintaining a temperature.

A filthy furnace filter can also be quite dangerous. When dust, dirt, and lint combine to form a shroud across your filter, a single spark can turn it all into flames. Setting a reminder on your phone, tablet, or wall calendar may help you stay on top of this.

Faulty Thermostat

Thermostats, especially battery-powered ones, aren’t infallible. They can fail, and this can cause trouble for you and your furnace. A faulty thermostat could be kicking your furnace into overdrive or leaving it inactive for months at a time.

After checking for lack of maintenance or a dirty filter, you may want to go ahead and take a look at the thermostat. After all, fixing this issue is often as simple as buying and installing a new pair of batteries.

Furnace Maintenance Tips and Tricks

Are you ready to get down and dirty to perform some simple heating system maintenance? If not, don’t worry. You can easily hire an affordable team of technicians to tend to your home maintenance needs.

And if you are ready, you’ll want to keep these three things in mind:

• Start Simply
• Keep Things Clean
• Get Help

By starting yourself off simply, you can avoid a great deal of frustration and battle the DIY learning curve. When you keep your furnace, tools, and workspace free of clutter and dirt, you’re helping your home function more effectively.

Lastly, it’s normal to feel stumped and to need help. Should you reach a point in your furnace maintenance where things don’t feel safe or simple, stop. Your life is far more valuable than a temporary feeling of self-satisfaction or pride.

There’s no shame in reaching out to the experts for a few tips or some advice. When you need a job done well (and safely), it’s often better to call the professionals. Furnaces are hefty, potentially dangerous appliances.

Hiring a team of technical experts to help you repair or replace your furnace is a smart move. You prevent a long list of potential mishaps by hiring a professional. Individuals with experience are bound to get the work done quickly and correctly.

Improve the Lifespan of Your Furnace

How long does a furnace last? On average, a standard home furnace will last for up to two decades. However, without proper maintenance and repair, this lifespan begins to shrink. To enjoy your furnace to its fullest, you’ll want to take excellent care of it.

Because a home’s furnace can be quite hot and challenging to work on, it may be best to hire a team of professional technicians to perform regular maintenance. Doing so can keep you and your household safe from fiery mishaps and pricey damages.

If you’re interested in keeping your home’s furnace in tip-top shape, contact us today! Our team of professional technicians looks forward to hearing from you.