If you know that your furnace is reaching the end of its life, now is a great time to start looking around for a new furnace before yours is completely shot. Here are four features that you should consider investing in when you purchase your new furnace.

Humidity Control

You can actually use new furnaces to control the humidity levels in your home. This can have a wide variety of benefits for you and your home. In the winter, the natural humidity levels tend to be lower, which can make your skin feel dry and uncomfortable. With the humidity control option on your furnace, you can add humidity back into the air so that your skin and body doesn't feel so dry. In the summer, humidity levels tend to rise, which can leave you feeling sweaty and sticky. With the humidity control option, you can remove the excess humidity from the air in your home.

Mold tends to thrive in homes that have high levels of humidity; with a humidity control on your furnace, you can control the humidity levels in your home year-round so that your home never presents the ideal conditions for mold spores to take root.

Variable-Speed Blower

Older furnaces typically have blowers that only operate at one speed. This can result in feeling like you are being blasted with air whenever you use your system. Newer furnaces can be purchased with variable-speed blowers that project air at different speeds; this can result in the airflow in your home feeling more natural. It can also help prevent areas of your home feeling unnaturally hot or cold, which occurs more frequently with single system blower furnaces.

Variable Operation

Another feature you should look for on your new furnace is variable operation. Variable operation allows your system to naturally adapt to the weather outside and keep your home more comfortable. It allows your system to adapt more naturally without your intervention to changes in the weather outside and inside of your home.

Safety Features

Furnaces have really long lifespans, which is why it is a good idea to make sure that your new furnace has as many safety features as possible. If your furnace currently is powered by gas, you may want to consider switching to a geothermal furnace, which doesn't rely on an open flame to heat up your home. 

Make sure that your new furnace have all the features you need to feel comfortable for years to come. Read more about furnaces here.