Residents in Rockwall, TX, depend heavily on their home’s HVAC systems to stay comfortable all year round. However, HVAC systems represent a large investment, so most people delay upgrading their home’s HVAC until the system they have fails. Doing so, though, isn’t a great idea for a variety of reasons. On the contrary, there are plenty of reasons to upgrade your home’s HVAC well before circumstances force you to do it. To elaborate, here are seven important reasons why you should upgrade your home’s HVAC system.
1. Your HVAC System Is Getting Old
On average, you can expect your home’s HVAC system to last between 15 and 20 years with proper maintenance. However, as your HVAC system ages, it will begin to need more frequent repairs to keep operating. Those costs can add up in a hurry, so it’s not always the best idea to try and prolong the life of an aging HVAC system. Installing a new HVAC will drop your ongoing repair costs to negligible levels for years to come. Plus, you won’t have to worry as much about a sudden HVAC failure in the middle of the cooling or heating season.
2. Your Energy Bills Are High
Heating and cooling accounts for approximately 53% of the average Rockwall home’s yearly energy costs. So, anything you can do to improve your home’s HVAC efficiency will make a meaningful difference in your energy bills. A new HVAC system is all but guaranteed to operate more efficiently than your current HVAC.
For example, the average air conditioner installed in the early 2000s had a SEER rating of just 10. Today, the lowest-rated AC you can legally purchase has a SEER rating of 15. So, if your home has an old AC system, you could realize an efficiency gain of more than 30% with a new air conditioner.
If your furnace is approaching 20 years old, it’s probably only around 80% efficient, at best. Today, you can’t buy a furnace that’s less than 83% efficient, and most exceed that by a comfortable margin. So, a new furnace could help you to trim your heating costs, too.
3. You’ll Improve Your Home’s Comfort
As HVAC technology continues to improve, so too does the ability of new HVAC equipment to deliver consistent comfort throughout your home. A new HVAC system will provide a major comfort upgrade that you’ll feel all year. They accomplish that in multiple ways. Some come with variable-speed motors that allow for much more precise delivery of the heating and cooling your home needs. They’re also more effective at controlling humidity, which plays a big role in your home’s comfort.
Installing a new HVAC system also provides you an opportunity to make certain you’ve got a system that’s sized correctly. If you’ve made any changes to your home since your last HVAC installation, its heating and cooling needs could have changed considerably. Plus, the HVAC technician that installs your new system will also rebalance the airflow in your home’s ductwork to make sure every corner of your home gets the heating and cooling it needs.
4. Newer HVAC Systems Are Quieter
Another reason to upgrade your home’s HVAC is that a new HVAC system will be a fair amount quieter than your old one. Much of the improvement comes down to major advances in materials, design, and manufacturing. For example, new HVAC systems feature advanced compressors that don’t make as much noise as old ones. Plus, they feature fans with advanced blade shapes that cut down on the noise generated while in operation. Today’s quietest HVAC systems make as little as 68 decibels of sound while running. That’s about the same volume as a normal conversation. That means you wouldn’t hear your new HVAC running unless you were within a few feet of it.
5. A New HVAC Means a New Warranty
Installing a new HVAC system also means getting a new warranty that protects you from unexpected failures for between 5 and 10 years. Most HVAC manufacturer warranties cover all of your new equipment’s major parts, which can get quite pricey if you have to purchase replacements. So, the warranty on your new HVAC functions like a free insurance policy against quality defects or manufacturing issues that might affect your new HVAC.
6. A New HVAC Is Better for the Environment
Although you may not know it, older HVAC equipment is quite damaging to the environment. This is particularly true of older air conditioners. As recently as 2010, many AC systems relied on a refrigerant known as R-22. While effective at cooling your home, it was a key contributor to ozone depletion and functioned as a greenhouse gas. So, any refrigerant leakage from older AC systems presents a major hazard.
However, even slightly newer systems aren’t much better. To phase out R-22 as fast as possible, most manufacturers moved on to a refrigerant called R-410a. It was an improvement in that it wasn’t as harmful to the Earth’s ozone layer. Unfortunately, it was even more potent as a greenhouse gas.
Today, AC manufacturers are switching to far safer refrigerants like R-32 and R-454b. Both offer efficient cooling without the harmful environmental effects of their predecessors. So, by upgrading your AC, you’re becoming a part of the solution to climate change.
The same is true of new furnaces, which burn fuel more completely and release less gaseous byproducts into the environment. This means they also protect the air quality inside your home from those harmful substances. So, purchasing a new furnace will help both you and your family breathe a whole lot easier in the winter.
7. A New HVAC Boosts Your Home’s Value
Finally, upgrading your home’s HVAC will provide a benefit if you plan on selling your home. It’s estimated that a new HVAC system can increase your home’s value by up to 10%, especially if you choose high-efficiency HVAC equipment. And since air conditioning is essential to make it through the summers here in Rockwall, you can bet that any potential homebuyer will examine your system as they weigh making an offer. And given the recent cold snaps we’ve seen in the winter here, buyers will also want to know that your furnace is up to the task, too.
Your Local HVAC Experts
Any way you look at it, upgrading your Rockwall home’s HVAC is a smart move. And if you’re interested in doing it, Bacon Plumbing Heating Air Electric can help. We’re a family-owned and operated HVAC, plumbing, and electrical company that’s served the area since 2011. We offer comprehensive HVAC services including installation, maintenance, and repair, as well as all of the plumbing and electrical services your home might require. Plus, we offer financing on approved credit to help you to manage the cost of installing a new HVAC system. So, if you’d like to know more about the benefits of upgrading your home’s HVAC, or you’re ready to choose a new system, contact the experts here at Bacon Plumbing Heating Air Electric today to get started!
