Should I replace a 21 year old furnace and AC? (how much, dehumidifier, furnaces)

[DP1987]

Just bought a home and both units are 21 years old.

Is there any meaningful financial benefit of replacing them with higher efficiency units? They are in great working condition and serviced a few months ago. Inspector didn't think anything was wrong with them but I am inquiring strictly from an energy bill savings POV.

PS: The home is very nicely insulated. Attic has a custom built insulation box at the opening, lots and lots of insulation pads (or whatever they are called) in the rest of the attic. House takes less than 10 minutes to cool down once the AC turns on.

Size: 2500 total sq ft and I plan on spending the next chunk of my life here.

[Moby Hick]

I'd doubt you'll get any benefit that covers the cost of replacement. You can compare your utility bills to those in similar houses in the same neighborhood but with newer furnaces and ACs to estimate the difference.

The insulation pads you're thinking of are probably what they call batts.

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by DP1987

Should I replace a 21 year old furnace and AC?
Just bought a home and both units are 21 years old.
Is there any meaningful financial benefit of replacing them with higher efficiency units?

Not yet.

You should expect the need to arise and plan for their replacement...
but that doesn't mean lay out $5-7,000 just yet just for the sake of it.

[sullyguy]

My AC is 24-ish years old and going strong (albeit with an air-handler blower motor replacement). I see no reason to replace it at this time.

[cdelena]

I replaced a 22 YO package unit one spring thinking it was at the end of life and did not want to deal with the issues of replacing it in the summer. I doubt it was a good move... since the unit was still operational I gave it to the crane operator (it was on a ~30' flat roof) and he took it to his lake house where it continues to run seven years later.

[Squirl]

We replaced an older system on our house; the the utility bills were lower but not low enough to cost justify the changeout purely for efficiency purposes.

I would replace it during the winter when there are great deals on HVAC systems. I am a person who hates climate system failure in summer months because it is sooooo hot here in Texas and usually it takes quite a while to get an AC tech to come during the hottest times when there are many failures. However, if I lived in a part of the country where it is not unbearable during the summer I would wait until I was sure the system needed replacement.

[Billy_J]

You can call your electric company and natural gas company and find out how much the utility bills have been in the past (per month) in the winter and summer.

If a lot of money each month, then I would replace it sooner.

If the bills are not too much, I would wait until something broke.

Note Bryant systems are very efficient. Might want to read up about those and others in the meantime.

[DP1987]

So basically don't replace until it breaks since the break even point might be years if not decades?

I was told to expect $500 in utility bills (water/electric/gas) for a home my size in NJ. I will definitely inquire about the previous bills from the utility co as you suggested.

FYI I have not seen my first bill yet, hence the question

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by DP1987

So basically don't replace until it breaks since the break even point might be years if not decades?

Break even? That'll be twenty years if the current equipment will keep running.
At present you have equipment with a zero cost basis doing it's job.

I was told to expect $500 in utility bills...
FYI I have not seen my first bill yet, hence the question

Contact the utility company for past use (CF of gas, KwH electric) records.

[Ohiogirl81]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Oh, yeah, and ... my furnace is 38 years old. It's probably getting replaced this fall, though; still works quite well, but there's some rust spreading into critical areas thanks to a previous owner who didn't know about the existence of dehumidifiers, and to a leaky humidifier.