Furnaces are designed to automatically add heat to your home. There are various kinds available, but the most common types include gas, oil, wood and electric. It's important to consider not only the efficiency, but the size of the furnace compared to the space you're heating.
In fact, having an energy-efficient unit that's too large for your space can be more expensive than having a smaller, less efficient unit. It's important to speak with a licensed and experienced furnace installer to ensure your unit is the right fit for your space.
All Furnaces Require Regular Maintenance
There are no shortcuts or substitutes for safety. Regular maintenance is an important part of ensuring your furnace is working at peak efficiency. Whether your furnace is old or brand-new, mid- or high-efficiency, it's important to have it checked annually. A little bit of maintenance every year can save you a lot of money on repairs and on your energy bills.
Furnaces can break down suddenly and unexpectedly without the proper maintenance checks. The repairs and replacements in emergencies like these are much more expensive than regular maintenance and annual checkups. These routine maintenance checks on your furnace can identify potential problems before they lead to breakdowns and larger costs. Benefits of regular checkups for your furnace include:
- Detecting carbon monoxide leaks and keeping your family safe
- Reducing monthly heating bills
- Preventing middle-of-the-night furnace breakdowns
Fast Emergency Repairs for Furnaces
Don't get left out in the cold. Your furnace can break down at any time while in use, and in the winter, this can be an extreme emergency. When it comes to furnaces in Duncan, we offer dependable emergency furnace repairs when you need us the most.
Should You Switch to a High-Efficiency Furnace?
Different furnaces offer different levels of efficiency. There are also different types of efficiency. Steady-state efficiency refers to how much usable heat a furnace creates while running. This takes into consideration the heat that leaves your home through the chimney and what remains in your home and runs through the duct work to warm your family. Seasonal efficiency refers to off-cycle losses and steady-state losses.
Due to start-up and cool-down times, furnaces lose heat and contribute to off-cycle losses, as well as the steady-state losses for while they’re running.
Mid-Efficiency vs. High-Efficiency
You only need a 3 to 4 inch opening to install a ductless mini-split heat pump. This makes this only a minor renovation job, as opposed to having to replace entire sections of the outdoor wall for a standard HVAC replacement/upgrade.
Mid-Efficiency:
- Seasonal efficiency approximately 80%
- Minimizes off-cycle losses
- Pilot shuts off while running
- Some offer motorized dampers to close the exhaust flue while it’s idling; this prevents heat escaping up the chimney
High-Efficiency:
- Up to 95% efficient
- Reduces off-cycle losses
- Improves steady-state efficiency with two or three heat exchangers that extract more heat
- More complex and more expensive
Although more expensive upfront, high-efficiency furnaces provide more output at a fraction of the monthly cost of a mid-efficiency furnace.
Most newer furnaces also include two-stage modulating that allows your furnace to operate on either a high or low setting, depending on the temperature you desire. This allows more efficient heating, while also being quieter and requiring less running time.
You can also add a variable-speed motor that regulates fan speed for even greater savings.
When to Call
Sometimes a heating & cooling problem can get easily out of hand if you’re not too careful. It’s then that you need to call your local contractor.
Our Heating & Cooling Team
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