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We have a 25 year old home with the original HVAC (1 stage 90% furnace, 1 stage 10 SEER AC) and we're considering replacing it in spite of the fact that, for now at least, it's working just fine. But there's very light dripping from the furnace exchange, which has caused a small amount of rust on the plate below it. The problem isn't severe, but it's there. All the HVAC people who've come over didn't feel that the dripping exchange was an immediate issue, but it's clear that our HVAC's glory days are behind it. But whether we have one year left in it, or four or ten just can't be known.
We've gotten multiple quotes and have decided on a 2 stage 96% furnace and a 2 stage 17 SEER AC, which would also be better at handling basic dehumidification. Buuuut, we're still on the fence about whether or not to pull the trigger since it's a major expense and we've never done this before.
So as I see it, we have two ways of looking at this:
1) Drive the current HVAC into the ground and get a new system only when we absolutely need it. The clock on a new system starts ticking as soon as it's installed, and at least this way we know we've gotten as much out of the old one as we can. And remember that old or new, the current HVAC is regulating the temperature and humidity just fine. It is not malfunctioning in any way (dripping exchange notwithstanding).
Or...
2) Buy a new system now, before hardware prices go up, and reap the benefits of energy savings from getting a more efficient system. However, a common theme we've heard is that newer, smarter and more complex systems don't last as long as older, dumber 1 stage systems, so getting 25 years out of the new one would be completely unrealistic.
How would you think about this? Note: we can do 5 year 0% financing.
We've gotten multiple quotes and have decided on a 2 stage 96% furnace and a 2 stage 17 SEER AC, which would also be better at handling basic dehumidification. Buuuut, we're still on the fence about whether or not to pull the trigger since it's a major expense and we've never done this before.
So as I see it, we have two ways of looking at this:
1) Drive the current HVAC into the ground and get a new system only when we absolutely need it. The clock on a new system starts ticking as soon as it's installed, and at least this way we know we've gotten as much out of the old one as we can. And remember that old or new, the current HVAC is regulating the temperature and humidity just fine. It is not malfunctioning in any way (dripping exchange notwithstanding).
Or...
2) Buy a new system now, before hardware prices go up, and reap the benefits of energy savings from getting a more efficient system. However, a common theme we've heard is that newer, smarter and more complex systems don't last as long as older, dumber 1 stage systems, so getting 25 years out of the new one would be completely unrealistic.
How would you think about this? Note: we can do 5 year 0% financing.