You might be wondering how long does a furnace last, either if you’re thinking of getting one for your home or if your current furnace is getting old.
The bad news is that we can’t give you an exact number for how long should a furnace last because there are an awful lot of factors that need to be considered.
The good news is that the furnace life expectancy can be prolonged to great lengths if you take good care of it and perform regular routine maintenance checkups.
What is the average life of a furnace?
If we absolutely have to put a number on it we can cite some of the warranty periods of many good and big furnace manufacturers – about 10 years. If you see a furnace being sold with just 5- or 2-year warranties, we’d recommend moving past it.
However, from the ~10-year warranty of most good furnaces, we can infer that a good furnace is expected to last at least 10 years without a hitch and at least several more after that. That makes 15-20 years of an average lifespan of a furnace. And, if you take really good care of your furnace, many homeowners will agree that even 30+ years are not out of the question.
What are the main factors that can reduce a furnace’s lifespan?
How long will a furnace last depends on a lot of things but here’s a quick rundown of the main problems you may encounter:
- A bad installation. Improperly installed ductwork, a subpar draining system, incorrectly installed venting or fuel lines, and so on – there are lots of things that can be poorly installed in a furnace so we’d recommend getting in touch with a reputable professional.
- Insufficient maintenance. Routine checkups are the key to a smoothly running and long-lasting furnace. They can be annoying and costly if you use professional help, but as with most other things in life, the short-term annoyance results in long-term value.
- Wrong Btu/h. Furnaces come in different volumes in terms of how much space they are designed to heat. If you install a furnace that’s too powerful or not powerful enough for your home it won’t work optimally and it will either have to cycle too much or it will cycle out too quickly. Either way, you’ll not only be wasting energy but your furnace will also get amortized sooner.
- Wrong thermostat settings. The normally recommended thermostat settings are between 60⁰ Fahrenheit and 80⁰ Fahrenheit. Too much higher or lower than that will result in a suboptimally working furnace with a significantly shortened life.
So, if you were wondering how long does a gas furnace last and why we hope we’ve answered your question thoroughly.
