There is no doubt that regular, seasonal HVAC maintenance works.
The heat pump we just replaced is proof of that.
I thought we might get 20 years out of that heat pump when we bought our house. It was a replacement HVAC equipment the seller had installed just prior to putting the house on the market. It was decent heating and cooling equipment but certainly not anything special. And here we are 26 years later before we had to replace that old heat pump. However, we chose to go a different way when it came to heating and cooling the house. The HVAC contractor inspected the ductwork and reported it was still serviceable. But it wouldn’t be for the life of the new HVAC that we planned to have installed. The idea of replacing the ductwork in a few years was not at all appealing. This would be a major project and we weren’t so into that prospect. So we chose to go with a ductless multi split system instead. We had the HVAC professionals basically cap off the ductwork system and went with a series of ductless heat pumps. This ended up being a great plan and more than just convenient. We love being able to have a sort of zone controlled HVAC system as we can set the ductless heat pump thermostats separately. And the ductless multi split system is far more efficient given there is no loss of HVAC treated air due to air ducts. We’re very pleased with our choice and are so impressed with the quality heating and air coming from our ductless heat pumps.