How Long Do a Roof, A/C and Water Heater Last on the Gulf Coast?

Borrowed Time Calculator

Find out how much useful life your major systems likely have left.

When was your house built?

On your county appraisal record if you do not have it to hand. Nothing you type leaves your browser.

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The arithmetic runs in your browser, which is also why nothing you type here is sent anywhere. With scripts off there is nothing to run it. The calendar contents page works without it.

Put a build year in above and the answer appears here.

This is a guide, not a guarantee: regular maintenance extends life. Learn how these numbers are calculated →

The roof is the one somebody else may help pay for

Of the four systems above, the roof is the only one with a public program behind it. Four of the five Gulf states put up to $10,000 toward replacing a roof to a stronger standard, and Texas runs a coverage system worth understanding instead. We do not run any of them and we do not decide who qualifies: each page maps one program and sends you to the agency that does, and carries the date its facts were last checked against that agency's own pages.

A stronger roof is also what earns a wind mitigation discount on the insurance afterwards, which is the part most homeowners never think to ask about.

Find the program in your state →

Correct anything you actually know

All four start at replaced on schedule, which assumes whoever owned the house before you kept up with it. That is the most generous of the three guesses, on purpose. What it means is that the answer above is the best case, and the real one is rarely better than the best case.

Roof, architectural shingle 15 yrs typical

What you know about the Roof, architectural shingle Year the Roof, architectural shingle went in
A/C condenser, the outdoor unit 11 yrs typical

What you know about the A/C condenser, the outdoor unit Year the A/C condenser, the outdoor unit went in
Water heater, tank 9 yrs typical

What you know about the Water heater, tank Year the Water heater, tank went in
Air handler or furnace 16 yrs typical

What you know about the Air handler or furnace Year the Air handler or furnace went in

Lifespans are Gulf South figures. Heat, humidity and hard UV age a house faster than the national averages assume, and these are the same numbers printed in the kit. They are guidelines rather than guarantees: a well-maintained roof outlives a neglected one, and a bad one fails early.

This is four of forty-nine

The full version is a spreadsheet. Its Quick Check tab is this, with all forty-nine systems and your own region instead of ours, and it answers from the same one number. The rest of the workbook is the part this page does not attempt: what each one costs, what it will cost in the year it actually breaks, and what to put aside every month so the money is there.

There are also three free calendars of the small jobs that keep this list from getting shorter faster than it has to. Those are here.

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The spreadsheet above is not on sale yet. Leave your email and I'll tell you when it is, and when there's anything else new. That is all the list is for.