Upgrade timing planner
Answer three quick questions. Get a now / next / later sequence for your upgrades — with payback windows, before anything fails on the coldest week of the year.
1What's your climate like?
2How do you heat today?
3How old is your equipment?
Heating / AC system
Water heater
Fine-tune the plan (optional)
Any of these bother you?
What matters most?
Home size
Your plan
First: Smart thermostat & schedules
Worth about $80 a year (2.5–5 yr payback).
Next · 6–24 months
- Smart thermostat & schedules2.5–5 yr payback
- Duct sealing + airflow balancing6.2–10.7 yr payback
- Air sealing + attic insulation8.3–14.9 yr payback
- Heat pump water heater~30 yr payback
- Heat pump for heating & coolingenabler
- Panel / circuit readinessenabler
Payback ranges come from typical installed-cost bands for your home size and modeled heating and cooling loads for your climate — planning estimates, not quotes. Envelope work comes first on purpose: a tighter house lets the next system be smaller and cheaper. Everything stays in your browser.
How the timing planner works
The planner models your heating and cooling costs from your climate, home size, and rates, then scores each candidate upgrade two ways: payback (from typical installed-cost bands) and urgency (equipment age, comfort complaints, and what you said matters most). Fast payback or urgent equipment lands in the Now lane; the rest staged behind it so projects stack instead of collide — the same logic as our guide to staging upgrades without rework.
Everything runs in your browser and nothing is stored on our servers. When a lane points at a specific project, the matching calculator prices it: attic insulation, heat pump vs furnace, or water heaters. For a full personalized roadmap, build My Plan.
Upgrade timing questions, answered
What order should I do home energy upgrades in?
Envelope first, equipment second, extras last. Air sealing and attic insulation shrink your heating and cooling load, which lets the next furnace, AC, or heat pump be smaller and cheaper. Duct sealing follows if you have ducts. Equipment gets replaced as it ages out rather than on a whim, water heaters swap at end of life, and solar comes after loads have come down.
When should I replace HVAC instead of repairing it?
Start planning at 13–15 years and act by 16 or when a major component fails. Furnaces and ACs rarely die politely — they quit on the coldest or hottest week, when contractors are booked and you'll take whatever equipment is on the truck. Getting quotes while the old system still runs is how you end up with the right-sized system at a fair price.
Which upgrades pay back fastest?
Controls beat construction: a thermostat schedule pays back in a year or two. Air sealing and duct sealing usually come next, with paybacks that shorten as your climate gets harsher and your fuel gets pricier. Full equipment swaps take longest on savings alone — which is why the planner times them to equipment age instead of pretending the payback carries the decision.
Should I wait for incentives before upgrading?
Don't wait on failing equipment. The federal 25C credit ended for work placed in service after December 31, 2025, so the incentives that remain are state and utility programs — check those for your project, but treat them as a discount, not a reason to run a 17-year-old furnace another winter.