The life span of your heating and cooling system depends on several things including how extreme the climate where you live is and whether the system has been properly installed and maintained. The more a heating or cooling system has to work the shorter the life span of its components will be. Some parts may be replaceable, such as fans, motors, and compressors, but one way to extend the life span of your heating and cooling system and conserve energy at the same time is to use it as little as possible. This means using fans in the summer to supplement the air conditioning and increasing the insulation of your home and duct system in the winter time to retain warmth. Planting trees on the south and west sides of your home and investing in thermo-pane windows are also ways of decreasing the need for heating and cooling.
Your first step in choosing a heating and cooling system is to evaluate the different brands and models and compare their costs to their benefits. A higher priced model may offer better warranties and guarantees, but make sure you are paying for higher quality and not just a name brand. Once you've chosen the right brand of heating or cooling systems for your needs you should seek out an installation contractor or technician who specializes in the manufacturer's product that you have chosen. Most heating and air technicians specialize and are certified to work on a specific brand. You should also follow the recommended guidelines for routine maintenance inspections. These should be performed by a professional at least once a year and in many cases twice a year in order to meet warranty requirements. Maintenance inspections include cleaning key components of your system which can greatly extend its life span.
On the homeowner's end it is very important to regularly clean or replace air filters - at least once a month. A filter clogged with dirt, hair, and other debris is one of the leading causes of heating and cooling system malfunctions. The motors and fans have to compensate for the limited airflow caused by a dirty filter and will either freeze up or burn out prematurely.
Sometimes it is advisable to replace an older heating or cooling system before it stops working because of the benefits to be gained by installing a higher efficiency model or because of the high cost of repairing a necessary component of your existing system. There has been much progress in the energy efficiency of heating and cooling systems in recent years and the savings in energy costs could more than make up for the cost of replacing an older system. A new system may be as much as 60% more efficient than one manufactured 10 years ago.
