Are you tired of your old furnace, with its constantly increasing energy bills, constantly increasing maintenance, and constantly decreasing ability to heat your house? If so, then you might be considering furnace replacement and wondering whether a high-efficiency furnace is the right next step for you. It could very well be, because high-efficiency furnaces have many benefits that could significantly improve the comfort and affordability of your home, making it a great choice.
Lower Energy Bills
The main reason why people switch to a high-efficiency furnace is to lower their energy bills. This is absolutely something that will happen when you switch to a high-efficiency furnace if you don’t change your usage otherwise. Comparing standard efficiency furnaces to high-efficiency furnaces depends on understanding the metric AFUE, or annual fuel utilization efficiency. This is a rating, in percentages, of how much energy from a furnace’s fuel gets turned into heat that can enter your vents to warm your home. For example, if a furnace had an AFUE of 50%, that would mean that half of the fuel turned into usable heat.
Since the late 1970s, the US has required that all furnaces in the US have an initial AFUE of at least 80%. These are considered standard efficiency furnaces, and they turn 4/5 of the energy you pay for into usable heat. High-efficiency furnaces, on the other hand, have an AFUE that is at least 90%. This means that a high-efficiency furnace will produce the same amount of heat with at least 1/8 less fuel, which means that, used the same way, the high-efficiency furnace will reduce your heating bill by 1/8. In Colorado, about 52% of our home energy usage is dedicated to space heating, so you could see a reduction of your overall energy bill by about 1/16 per year.
Improved Comfort
However, the main reason why most people recommend high-efficiency furnaces is that they offer improved comfort over standard efficiency furnaces. That’s because they are designed to maintain the temperature in your home more precisely, without the major fluctuations in temperature you got used to with your old gas furnace. You won’t find yourself getting chilly, putting on layers of clothing, then finding you’re too hot and shedding layers. Instead, you’ll just enjoy a consistently comfortable temperature.
Less Noise
Standard efficiency furnaces typically have just one blower setting: high. Whenever they turn on, the blower comes on full blast. However, high-efficiency furnaces have a wider range of settings, and they can maintain the temperature with the blowers on at a lower power, which makes less noise.
Healthier Indoor Air
Traditional gas furnaces have an open combustion chamber, which means that the gas burns using room air. This won’t affect the air quality of your home if the furnace is outside what is often described as the “building envelope.” This means that the furnace is outside the part of the building that is being heated and does not generally share the same air as you breathe in your home or office. However, furnaces are increasingly being moved inside the building envelope, which means that combustion products from the burning of gas, such as carbon monoxide, will be in the same air you are breathing.
High-efficiency furnaces improve your indoor air quality by having closed combustion chambers: they get a separate air supply from outside and all the combustion products go outside without entering the air of your home or business.
Better for the Environment
Although natural gas is a cleaner-burning fuel than coal, oil, or gasoline, it is still a fossil fuel. The less we burn, the better it is for the environment. Making your home heating more efficient can help lower your overall carbon footprint.
Compatible with Smart Thermostats
Smart thermostats give you more options for controlling your home climate. Plus, the latest generation of smart thermostats are easier to program and adjust than previous examples. High-efficiency furnaces can utilize the full range of options offered by smart thermostats and maximize your control.
Get a High-Efficiency Furnace in Denver
With all these advantages, high efficiency furnaces do have some drawbacks. They are more expensive than traditional furnaces, and they require some additional installation steps. They need a separate air supply and a condensate drain.
At Major Heating and Air Conditioning, you always get a free estimate on new equipment, including furnace replacement. If you are considering a high-efficiency furnace and want to know if it’s worth it for you, our technicians can come to your home or office, assess your current configuration, and give you a cost estimate for furnace installation of the different options. Then you can decide whether the high-efficiency furnace is the right choice for you.
Major Heating and Air Conditioning has been serving the Front Range since 1970. We have helped many people achieve comfort in their home or office, and we’ve satisfied so many of our customers that we maintain an A+ rating with the BBB. Our expertise and experience in handling all the challenges of heating historic and new construction in Colorado is matched only by our knowledge of new HVAC technology. We can help you evaluate the complex options available now to determine which is the best fit for your situation.
To get a free quote on a high-efficiency furnace, please contact Major Heath and Air Conditioning today. We serve customers in Denver and the surrounding areas.
