Is your furnace at the end of its life, or are you looking to upgrade your Greensville or Greater Charlotte home to lower your heating costs? Whatever your reasons are for wanting a new furnace, the important thing to decide is whether you want to install a conventional unit or a high-efficiency furnace. To make your decision easier, this article will show you how much a high-efficiency furnace can lower your heating bills and save you money elsewhere.
Medium vs. High-Efficiency Furnaces
A high-efficiency unit is a condensing furnace that has a primary and secondary heat exchanger. The secondary heat exchanger is what makes a condensing furnace more efficient. It allows the furnace to utilize more of the heat that the burners produce. Medium-efficiency furnaces have only one heat exchanger. With only one heat exchanger, much more energy is wasted since the combustion fumes retain more heat when they’re vented outside. In a condensing furnace, the secondary heat exchanger captures the majority of the heat so that the fumes are cold before being vented outside.
Condensing furnaces range between 90% and 98.5% efficient. Medium-efficiency conventional furnaces are between 80% and 89% efficient. Exactly how much you can save with a high-efficiency furnace depends on where you live, the size of your home, and how well insulated it is. If you currently have an 80% efficient furnace, upgrading to a 90% efficient model will lower your heating costs by at least 10% from what they currently are. In all likelihood, you’ll end up saving even more since the energy efficiency of gas furnaces tends to slowly decrease with time.
If you have an 80% AFUE furnace, it means that only 80 cents of every dollar you spend on gas actually goes toward heating your home. If you were to upgrade to a 98% AFUE condensing furnace, it would only waste 2 cents for every dollar you spent. Although high-efficiency furnaces are quite a bit more expensive, the amount you’ll save on your energy bills will usually make up the difference in price in around five to seven years.
How a High-Efficiency Furnace Can Save You Money in Other Ways
How much you can save on your yearly heating costs with a high-efficiency furnace only tells part of the story. Since high-efficiency furnaces utilize the heat they produce more effectively, they tend to heat more quickly than medium-efficiency furnaces. This means that a high-efficiency furnace will run for less total time in a day than a medium-efficiency unit. The less time that your furnace runs, the less wear and tear it will experience.
This decreased wear and tear means that high-efficiency furnaces tend to be less prone to breaking down or experiencing major issues. If you have a high-efficiency furnace, you will usually end up spending less on repairs over its life than you would if you had a medium-efficiency furnace.
Another thing to consider is the increased longevity you’ll typically get with a high-efficiency furnace. The majority of conventional furnaces will only last for 12 to 15 years. When properly maintained and inspected every year, a high-efficiency furnace could potentially last for 20 years or more.
No matter which type of furnace you end up choosing to install, having a technician service it every year is essential for keeping your heating costs from increasing. This ensures you get as many years out of your equipment as possible. If you neglect to maintain your furnace, you’ll always end up paying more in energy costs and repairs. A poorly maintained furnace will also fail more quickly, so you’ll end up having to pay to replace it much sooner as well.
Greensville’s Furnace Replacement Professionals
If you’re looking to schedule a furnace replacement in Greensville or the Greater Charlotte area, Putnam Mechanical is ready to help. When you schedule a consultation for your furnace replacement, our technicians will guide you through all of the different options to make it easy to choose the right unit for your home. All of our technicians are highly trained and fully certified. We also perform full background checks on all employees.
We provide free estimates on all HVAC equipment replacement and installation services. If your furnace isn’t yet at the end of its life, we can also take care of all of your heating repair and maintenance requirements. We also offer electrical services and emergency repairs. Give Putnam Mechanical a call today.
