If your furnace needs more and more repairs, you probably will find the best replacement in the spring, summer or fall.

That’s when new furnaces are not in demand, and contractors will have ample time to help you select the best equipment for heating your home or business.

Once the average furnace gets to be about 15 years old it starts developing problems that become more costly and more frequent. If you wait until it’s winter and the furnace conks out, you will have to make quick decisions, keeping the cold weather in mind.

But warm weather allows a more leisurely approach and a more competitive field among contractors. You will find opportunities to save money and help the environment, thanks to vastly improved energy efficiency.

Money talk

If you haven’t bought a furnace in 15 years or more, you may be surprised to see how much the cost has risen, as just about every cost has jumped in 15 years.

Imagine raising your furniture’s efficiency to 98.5 percent from older furnaces’ measly 56 percent.

“Although older fossil fuel furnaces and boiler systems have efficiencies in the range of 56% to 70%, modern conventional heating systems can achieve efficiencies as high as 98.5%, converting nearly all the fuel to useful heat for your home,” says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “Energy efficiency upgrades and a new high-efficiency heating system can often cut your fuel bills and your furnace's pollution output in half. Upgrading your furnace or boiler from 56% to 90% efficiency in an average cold-climate house will save 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year if you heat with natural gas, or 2.5 tons if you heat with oil.”

And you will be helping the environment, too. Efficient heating and cooling systems reduce the demand for fossil fuels to power them.

Premier HVAC, a full-service company, installs and services furnaces in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Long Island.