5 HVAC Considerations for When You're Buying a Home

October 19, 2016

When you're buying a house, the HVAC system may not be one of your main priorities. It should be, though, because this critically important system has a major impact on your family's comfort and how much you spend for heating and cooling. Here are five aspects of the HVAC system to keep in mind when you're comparing different homes.

Equipment Type

As an example of how equipment type can affect your energy costs, consider a home with a heat pump that saves you money during the cooling season. If it's not equipped with a backup gas furnace or boiler and relies on auxiliary electric heat strips, however, you'll end up with high winter electric bills.

System Age and Condition

If the HVAC system in a particular home is poorly maintained or over 15 years old, you'll know you'll face a costly upgrade in the near future. If you decide that this is the perfect house, be sure to take that major expense into account when you're making an offer.

Energy Efficiency Rating

If you learn that a home has well-maintained, high-efficiency HVAC equipment, you can rest easy knowing it's going to perform reliably and cost you less to stay comfortable. If it happens to be Energy Star-certified equipment, you can expect additional savings of 10–20 percent.

Equipment Placement

The indoor half of the HVAC system should have ample space around it so repairs and maintenance aren't difficult. You'll also want to look at where the outdoor unit is located. If it sits in the full sun, you'll pay higher summer energy bills. If it's placed right outside your bedroom window, you may find its normal operation noise disturbing.

Heating Fuel

Before you starting comparing homes, check on the cost/availability of different heating fuels. Once you learn what type of heating equipment is installed in a home you're seriously considering, you can easily judge if you'll face high or reasonable heating costs if you buy it.

Contact us at Lozier Heating & Cooling if you have questions about the HVAC equipment when you're buying a house in the Des Moines area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the greater Des Moines, Iowa area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).