If you live in an older home, its heating system may have been installed many years ago. Because of its age, you may be wondering if it still has enough life left in it to make it through another winter or two. While having a new heating system installed may not be part of your immediate plans, there are a couple of signs that indicate that your current unit is failing and you need to have it done.

1. Furnace Short Cycles Before Your Home Has a Chance to Heat Up

One sign that your heating system is on its last leg and you need to have a new one installed is when the furnace start to constantly short cycle. Within minutes of the blower kicking on, it will shut off even before your home has a chance to fully heat up.

If your system is short cycling, it typically means that it is overheating on the inside. Before it overheats completely, the unit will turn itself off.

When short cycling becomes constant, the furnace will not only wear down faster, but will also cause a huge spike in your energy bills. Your home will be uncomfortable while you are paying for the excess energy and waiting for the unit to fail completely.

Before this happens, it would be better to go ahead and have a new one installed.

2.  Air in Your Home Feels Excessively Dry While the System Is Running

Another sign that it is time to have a new heating system installed is that your home's air excessively dry. You and your family members' skin will start to feel dry and flaky. And, when you wake up in the morning, your throat will feel dry because you have been breathing in air that lacks any moisture.

Especially if the furnace is short cycling, the temperature inside of the unit will heat the air flowing through it too much. This overheating of the air will strip the moisture out of it, making for dry and uncomfortable conditions in your house.

If the air in your home no longer heats up enough to make you and your family members comfortable and it has become so dry that it is affecting how you feel, it may be time to consider replacing it with a new one. Contact an HVAC contractor near you who offers heating installation services for help with selecting a new system as well as talk to them about your options for having it installed.