Latest / Shafer Heating and Cooling Service Repair Podcast / 🎧 How Long Will My HVAC System Last?

Transcript

🎧 How Long Will My HVAC System Last? · Shafer Heating and Cooling Service Repair Podcast

• 0:01
  Nathan Shafer from Shafer Heating and Cooling is joining me here on Check A Pro Radio.
• 0:06
  He's our heating and cooling expert on the show today. Nathan, how are you?
• 0:11
  Good, Jim. How are you? I am living the dream. Thanks for asking.
• 0:14
  Questions come in to the show.
• 0:17
  I love this question. It's kind of an open-ended question, and I think there's
• 0:21
  a lot of, well, it depends.
• 0:22
  And that is, how long will my HVAC system last, my heating, ventilation,
• 0:28
  and air conditioning system?
• 0:30
  A lot of us have a complete system with a heater slash furnace and the air conditioning,
• 0:37
  all combined with the ventilation.
• 0:39
  How long is it going to last in my house?
• 0:43
  Great question. So yeah, I mean, there's, once again, there's variables that go into that.
• 0:47
  You see ones that are, it's like with anything, right? I've taken house systems
• 0:51
  or seen systems still running at 50 years old and look amazing.
• 0:55
  And then I've seen ones that are five years old and it looks like it was 50
• 0:58
  years old, and they're being replaced. It's everywhere in between.
• 1:01
  But I think when you come down to it, if we look at consumer reports,
• 1:05
  of course, they're doing studies all across the United States,
• 1:08
  third-party organizations.
• 1:09
  So what they state here in IRE
• 1:11
  and Southern Ohio, the average life expectancy is around 12 to 15 years.
• 1:15
  Now, can you make them go longer? Absolutely. Are there some that doesn't go that long?
• 1:20
  100%. So it comes down to how well they're maintained, how well they're sized,
• 1:24
  and are they properly designed and installed?
• 1:28
  Because day one of a new system is the most important day.
• 1:31
  Is it properly designed? Is it properly installed so that it can live a long
• 1:35
  life? And then has it been properly maintained over those years?
• 1:37
  So in this part of the country, in Southern Ohio, where we're at,
• 1:40
  they say about 12 to 15 years.
• 1:42
  Once it gets past that point, it just starts to become a thing of,
• 1:45
  can I keep it running? Sure, but does it make sense from a cost standpoint?
• 1:49
  You go to some other parts of the country, you get some of the coastal areas
• 1:51
  and different things, there's a lot of salt in the air. They are looking at
• 1:55
  five and six years, right?
• 1:57
  Other areas that are very, very mild, they're even longer.
• 2:00
  So it varies by different parts of the country, but for here,
• 2:03
  12 to 15 years, according to Consumer Reports.
• 2:06
  Interesting you said, you know, by the coast, they don't last as long because
• 2:12
  of maybe the salty air and so forth.
• 2:15
  And, you know, I'm thinking about cars, especially years ago, decades ago.
• 2:21
  They would rust out a lot in colder climates where there was salt on the roads
• 2:28
  and sand and a lot of slush and ice and snow. And then in like Southern California,
• 2:33
  you see these cars from 1950.
• 2:37
  Now, I know they have to keep them up, but it's not as hard on them.
• 2:40
  So it's the same type of thing. The people in Southern California work on their cars.
• 2:44
  They keep them up, but the climate's good on them. So it's kind of a combination
• 2:48
  of things also with our HVAC system.
• 2:51
  Yeah. Jimmy, you know, it's crazy. There's so many things that are so relatable
• 2:54
  when it comes to our cars and our heating and cooling systems.
• 2:57
  And we just oftentimes, we think about our car because it gets us from point
• 3:00
  A to point B and we're in it every day, multiple times a day.
• 3:03
  And we really, I mean, without it, we're lost, right?
• 3:06
  Which, I mean, heck, let's face it, without our heating and cooling system,
• 3:08
  we're lost too. You know, you get a 95 degree day, you know if it's not working.
• 3:11
  But other than that, like as long as it's working, you just,
• 3:14
  it's kind of out of sight, out of mind.
• 3:16
  And so oftentimes we don't think about it until it is broke down and we do need
• 3:20
  a new one and it's a surprise or it is broken.
• 3:22
  We need to have someone come out and fix it right away. But there's so many
• 3:25
  things that are so labeled when we think about like the miles per gallon and
• 3:28
  our vehicle and taking care of it, maintaining it, cleaning it,
• 3:31
  waxing, different things.
• 3:32
  So many of those things are just as important with our HVAC system too.
• 3:35
  Because if you think about it, they're running a lot more than our cars are.
• 3:38
  But look how much care and time we put into taking care of those.
• 3:41
  And so just like that with our HVAC systems, the better we can take care of
• 3:45
  those, the better we can maintain those, the longer we can keep those lasting,
• 3:49
  keeping utility bills down and protecting that investment in that HVAC system.
• 3:53
  Because let's face it, they're not cheap systems and they're getting more expensive every day.
• 3:57
  And so if we can protect it and keep them lasting longer, well,
• 4:00
  that's more money back in the client's pocket.
• 4:03
  Sure. And when you and your team, your technicians go out to your clients' homes
• 4:07
  and do regular maintenance, there probably shouldn't be a surprise to those
• 4:12
  clients because I know that your technicians are going to say, hey, look,
• 4:17
  your system is three years old. It's great.
• 4:19
  Just keep this coming out and it'll be fine for a while.
• 4:24
  We'll let you know when there's issues. And then one that's 20 years old,
• 4:27
  it's on life support, ma'am, and we'll do whatever we can.
• 4:31
  But here are some recommendations for a new or more efficient system that's
• 4:35
  going to be reliable, peace of mind, better sleep at night.
• 4:38
  Yeah, 100%. Our job when we go out, you know, is always to be extremely thorough,
• 4:45
  find challenges, problems, issues, to see what's working, what's not working,
• 4:50
  and to be able to educate the client on what those are, the good and the bad.
• 4:54
  And then it's their job to be able to say yes or no to what.
• 4:56
  And so we're trying to look not only right now at the moment,
• 5:00
  but also to yes, what's, what do we see that's changed over years past?
• 5:04
  So when you're on those routine maintenances or what we call our VIP club memberships,
• 5:08
  when we're out there twice a year, just like going to the doctor,
• 5:10
  we can look back at all those records and see, hey, where were we at? Where are we at now?
• 5:15
  Where do you project this going
• 5:16
  in the future so that we can eliminate as many surprises as possible?
• 5:20
  And then they can plan ahead for that and or, like I said, protect that to the best of their ability.
• 5:25
  So it's our job to find those, educate, offer solutions. It's their job to choose
• 5:30
  which ones they want to or don't want to go with.
• 5:33
  Join the VIP club. All of Nathan's information is located in the description
• 5:39
  of this podcast in the notes.
• 5:41
  One click away. Nathan, as always, thank you so much for joining me today here
• 5:45
  on the show. Hey, my pleasure, Jim. Thank you. Anytime.