Replacing your old furnace with a new, high efficiency unit could be the key to an affordable heating season. Autumn is a great time to make the replacement since you’ll soon need your furnace to maintain a comfortable temperature in your home for a several-month stretch. Here’s what to look for when buying a new furnace this heating season:
- Fuel type: There are several types of fuel used to power furnaces, including natural gas, oil and electricity. Gas is the most common of these, but you can decide which type of fuel will work best for your heating system, or which is most easily available.
- Efficiency: In combustion furnaces, the amount of heat output generated from a certain amount of fuel is called the annual fuel utilization efficiency, or AFUE. In the 1970s, gas furnaces had AFUE ratings around 65 percent. With climbing energy costs, this level of inefficiency is unacceptable today. That’s why today’s high-efficiency furnaces can achieve AFUE nearing 100 percent. While a 95 percent AFUE furnace might cost considerably more than an 80 percent AFUE system, the investment is well worth it to keep heating season costs down during our bitterly cold Minnesota winters.
- Size: A furnace’s heating capacity should match your needs. You must take several factors into consideration to find the ideal new furnace size, including home cubic footage and orientation, climate, insulation levels and more. An undersized system won’t keep up with the coldest Minnesota nights. An oversized system will get the job done, but it will cost more to purchase and operate. Plus, an oversized system cycling on and off more frequently succumbs to wear and tear sooner, while not providing proper filtration or humidity control.
- Installation: With the correct furnace chosen for your needs, choose a contractor to complete the installation for you. This should not be treated as an afterthought but as an important part of achieving a more affordable heating season. After all, furnaces that are installed correctly will run more efficiently, last longer, and ensure you and your family’s safety.
To learn more about buying a new furnace this heating season, please contact us at Marsh Heating & Air Conditioning for your Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota home today.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about furnaces and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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