Maybe there is a tech bulletin out on this.
With once/yr I'm thinking the fuse element fatigues from the many on/off - heating/cool down - cycles over the year but I don't know of any fuses that are specifically "fatigue resistant".
With HVAC, it's hard to tell if the fuse failed from a transient overcurrent or fatigue.
I guess you could put in a breaker.
Post a schematic; maybe there is some design defect that can be seen.