Setting Aside Home Repair Costs in Your Monthly Budget

If you’re like most homeowners, you already budget for household expenses like the mortgage, property taxes, insurance and utility bills. Factoring repairs and maintenance into your monthly budget is advisable too, so you can avoid a stressful situation when expenses related to heating, cooling and structural upkeep crop up.

Learn How Much Home Repairs Cost

A wise first step in budgeting for repairs and maintenance is learning what various items might cost. The potential expenses largely depend on what’s needed, but as an example, consider these common HVAC-related scenarios:

• You find out that your furnace heat exchanger has rusted through, or your air conditioner’s compressor dies, and you’re suddenly facing a cost of several thousand dollars to replace essential comfort equipment.
• Your heat pump or air conditioner suddenly stops cooling mid summer. A refrigerant leak is diagnosed and repaired, and you have to pay several hundred dollars for labor, materials and recharging the system with refrigerant.

Learn to Budget Realistically

Don’t expect to put aside money for every possible home repair immediately. Instead, allocate a monthly amount and let it accumulate. Start with an average of one percent of your property’s value plus a dollar per square foot of living space. To get a realistic total to divide into monthly amounts, add 15 percent to that average for each of these factors that apply to your home:

• Advanced age. Older homes typically need more maintenance and repairs.
• History. If you own an older home that wasn’t kept in tip-top condition over its lifespan, you can expect to face higher repair and maintenance expenses.
• Climate. Homes here in the Lorain area are subject to wear and tear from the elements, temperature fluctuations, and exposure to snow and ice.
• Structure type. If you own a detached home, you’re responsible for all the maintenance and repairs related to roofing, siding, guttering and systems like HVAC and plumbing. If you have a condo, you’ll benefit from sharing these expenses with other owners.

For personalized advice about planning a monthly budget to cover HVAC maintenance and repairs, contact us at Energy 1 Heating & Air Conditioning.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Lorain, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 440-201-2959.