Of all the problems that can befall a household, the sudden failure of a heating or cooling system ranks at or very near the top. Needed repairs can be difficult or impossible for homeowners to diagnose. Replacement can be crippling in its expense. Meanwhile, your household is getting increasingly uncomfortable and irritable as your home begins to lose its fight with Mother Nature. Yet, with just a few, simple steps and preemptive safeguards, you can all but assure your home’s heating or cooling system won’t fail when you need it most.

Annual Maintenance and Assessment

The key to avoiding these high-stress snap judgments for the future of your heating and cooling systems is early and professional inspection of your system. That means in early spring for your air conditioning and early fall for your heating, you should have a HVAC contractor come in and clean, inspect, and evaluate your unit. Not only will this timeline give you plenty of time to line up your ducks in a row should replacement be necessary, but these months are the off-season for HVAC contractors. You can probably find substantial discounts for house calls. You may even be able to find free inspection services, as contractors try to drum up business for the upcoming season.

Match Frequency of Visits with Your System’s Condition

Most homeowners aren’t going to pay for semiannual heating and cooling inspection, and you may not need to, depending on the condition and age of your unit. First, check the status of your warranties. If your unit is still under warranty, there’s probably little need for annual inspections, but you need to make sure your warranty is valid. Manufacturers may seem to provide warranties, only to invalidate your claims because you failed to maintain the unit or your contractor incorrectly installed it. After your warranty is over, you still may not need a professional inspection every year, or you can have a HVAC contractor inspect both systems in one early spring visit. The average life expectancy for most heating and cooling systems is 15-20 years. If your systems are getting close to this number, it’s time to start thinking about more intensive maintenance and planning for replacement.

The Cost of Heating and Cooling Repairs

The average cost to repair an air conditioning unit is $359 or to repair a furnace is $317, according to data collected by ServiceMagic from homeowners who actually completed repairs on their systems through HVAC contractors. Yet, the distribution of repair costs is anything but a bell curve. In fact, there are more repairs that cost $1,000 than $300, as well as more repairs that cost $100 than $300. Naturally, a good part of this discrepancy stems from the nature of the repair, but this, too, can be affected by early action. If your A/C unit is being obstructed, if your air filter needs to be replaced, if your thermostat is malfunctioning, and you fail to notice or deal with these minor problems, unnecessary harm and expensive repairs can result.

Heating and Cooling Replacement Units

Early action will, hopefully, give you enough time to find the best possible replacement unit for your home. You should start researching immediately, looking at different systems and degrees of energy-efficiency. Start talking to local contractors who can handle the installation, ask informed questions, and seek out expert recommendations. Keep in mind that not every home is destined for conventional furnaces and A/C units. In dry climates, you should consider the benefits of evaporative cooling. In rural areas, you should consider installing an outdoor wood furnace. Or if you already have a furnace and need your furnace repaired you may want to get in touch with a service similar to Aquarius Home Services.

Moreover, with the solid planning and a little luck, you might be able to replace both systems at once with a modern system that serves both purposes. In mild climates, you can install a two-way, air-source heat pump for both heating and cooling needs. In more severe climates, a geothermal heat pump will take care of both needs and dramatically slash your annual energy consumption. Depending on your home’s design, you might also be able to benefit from new delivery systems, including ductless heating and cooling, radiant flooring, among others.