We’re moving out of the heating season, and you may be tempted to put your heater out of your mind entirely at this point. We want to advise you to do otherwise, though. Why? Because there is at least one serious question that you should still explore relating to your heater, even if you’re past the point of relying on it much this heating season. That question is whether or not your heater should be kept in the game any longer.
We understand that you may be hesitant to think about replacing your heater in Chesterfield, MO, right now. You probably want to divert your attention to your air conditioning system, which you’ll be relying on pretty heavily in the coming months. The fact is, however, that now is the perfect time to make such considerations. You don’t want to wait until you actually need your heater again before you accept that, yes, its time has passed, after all. Consider the following.
The Overall Performance of Your Heater
Well, my heater worked decently all winter. Well, pretty decently. I mean, it started up right away—usually.
If you cannot say with complete confidence that your heater performed at the level you demand of it all winter long, then you need to stop and reflect on what this means. Does it mean that your heater definitely needs to be replaced? No. Does it mean that you should put up with a subpar performance like this moving forward. No. It doesn’t.
There are a lot of reasons why a heater may underperform. You may have skipped a maintenance session or two. Don’t push your luck any further. You’ll never get a peak performance from a heater that is not tuned up annually. Your heater may also be in need of a specific repair. However, it is totally possible that your heater is at a place where replacing it makes more financial sense. You’ll want to weigh its performance and reliability against a few other factors when deciding to replace.
Its Energy Efficiency
Or lack thereof, really. Again, if you’ve noticed that your heater is not operating as efficiently as it once did, it may just need to be tuned up. A problem requiring professional repairs could also result in a drop in energy efficiency. However, the heater may also just be of a low efficiency rating.
Sometimes, homeowners looking to cut costs invest in lower efficiency systems. If you have the money now to invest in better energy efficiency, that’s a good idea. This initial investment can help you to save a lot of money in the long run. It may also be the case that, yes, your heater is old and beaten down.
System Age
We put this one last because too many homeowners think old systems need replacing. That’s not inherently the case. If you’re having problems with efficiency or performance quality, however, the age of your system can absolutely help you to determine if replacement is your best option. We can help you to decide if your heater has reached this point.