Do I Need A Furnace Certificate When I Buy a House?
You don’t need a furnace certificate when you buy a new house. But, it’s an easy way to get some vital information about how well the house’s HVAC system is holding up. Like a home inspection, this is a chance to spot a problem with the property before it’s too late.
At Broadley’s, we’ve offered furnace certificates for a while. But, during hot seller’s markets, they become more popular.
The reason? Buyers feel rushed into deals. When real estate costs are going up, demand for homes is high, and sellers don’t have to wait long for a good offer.
In these markets, buyers lose the luxury of taking their time walking through a house, thinking about it at home, and maybe going out to see it again. And, it’s easy to overlook a problem in a high-pressure situation like this.
In this article, we’ll talk about how a furnace certificate can help you get a better idea of a property’s condition without slowing you down from making an offer. And, if you need one for a home in Ventnor, Margate, Marmora, or any South Jersey town, call or email Broadley’s today!
What Does A Furnace Certificate Do?
A furnace certificate gives you essential information about the age and condition of the heating system in a home. It usually takes about an hour, and most HVAC companies can get the paperwork back to you within a day.
Why Should I Get A Furnace Certificate Before Buying A House?
Think of a furnace certificate as an extension of the home inspection, and an important one at that. You want to know:
- If the system will need replacement soon
- How efficient (or inefficient) it is
- If there are any related problems
A furnace certificate in a house you want gives you essential insight about a major appliance in the home. A clean bill of health can mean peace of mind, while a red flag can help you avoid a costly problem — or at least prepare for it. And, it may even give you some negotiating leverage.
These are all things you won’t get on a regular home inspection. An inspector will give you a general — and sometimes a little too rosy — report on the house’s condition. They cover a lot of items and can only go so far with any one part of it.
That leaves out a lot of nuanced information, especially about an appliance. As long as the heater turns on and there’s no apparent physical damage, you won’t get any more insight on your report.
But, there’s plenty that can still be wrong. Carbon monoxide is the big one here: The heater may be giving off this colorless odorless gas in small amounts. Without taking a reading, you won’t know it’s happening.
After that are various, smaller technical warning signs that can indicate trouble in the near future. That’s anything from worn-down components to signs of electrical trouble and more.
Will You Need A New Furnace?
A new furnace can easily run you close to $10,000. And, that’s for a cheaper builder-grade model, nothing special.
Most gas furnaces don’t make it 20 years. You should look closely at any model that’s been there for more than a decade. That’s about the time you start noticing problems.
And, there’s a good chance you won’t get the age of the furnace on a seller’s disclosure or from the home inspection. A homeowner can check “unknown” when asked when someone installed the system.
So, the first step is taking age into account. The tech can pull the model and serial number to confirm this hard info. Then, they’ll inspect the actual condition. These factors give them a good idea of how much life is left in the system.
Energy Efficiency
Even if the heater is not ready for replacement just yet, you also need to consider its energy efficiency and overall performance.
The big factor here is how much gas it uses. You can pull the usage stats for your particular model, and there’s probably even a big yellow sticker on it telling you how much you save in energy costs over the year.
That information has a really, really short shelf life — like, maybe a year or two.
The truth is, every furnace becomes less and less efficient every year that you’re using it. Meaning, it uses more gas — which costs you more in bills — to do the same job.
Again, this exact appliance’s condition will have a significant impact on its performance. Did the homeowners get regular tune-ups and preventive maintenance? Are there any signs of damage or distress?
The system’s condition, combined with the age, will give you a better idea of how much energy you’ll use to heat or cool the house. That’s an expense that gets larger and more impactful with bigger homes and houses with three stories or more.
Get A Furnace Certificate In South Jersey
If you’re ready to gather all the information you can about a house you’re about to buy in Ventnor, Margate, or anywhere in South Jersey, call Broadley’s today for a furnace inspection. We know you have a small window of time to get it done, and we’ll make sure to schedule you as soon as possible and deliver the certificate in less than 48 hours.