High Efficiency Furnace Prices, Comparison Free Quotes. High Efficiency Furnaces The Basics. A furnace provides central heating throughout your home. There are several types of heating systems with one of the most common in Canada being a forced air furnace. Forced air furnaces work by blowing heated air through ducts that deliver the warm air to rooms throughout the house via air registers. This is a preferred method amongst consumers because it provides heat quickly and it has a quick recovery time when temperature is decreased overnight to save energy, so it doesnt take long for the home to warm back up again in the morning. The forced air furnace when coupled with an efficient fan and motor can help the air conditioning unit send cold air throughout the house as well. Providing the consumer more value for their money. Energy efficient furnaces can also make your home more attractive for resale value, as more and more consumers are conscious of the environment and how their energy dollars are being spent. Replacing your furnace is a fairly significant investment, so knowing that it has been recently upgraded is always a bonus for a potential home buyer. Wiring A House For Pros By Pros Pdf Free' title='Wiring A House For Pros By Pros Pdf Free' />When choosing a furnace for your home it is important to educate yourself on the following factors estimated annual energy consumption, operating cost and energy efficiency rating of the furnace. What efficiency AFUE rating is considered a high efficiency furnace Generally, in order to be considered high efficiency, a furnace must have a minimum AFUE of at least 9. However many experts and organizations such as Energy Star only consider a furnace with an AFUE rating of at least 9. Some manufacturers market their top of the line models as ultra high efficiency, and these tend to have AFUE ratings of 9. What does AFUE stand for You might be wondering what an AFUE is. Thats an excellent question. AFUE stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency and it measures how efficiently a furnace uses fuel. This number lets you see how effectively your energy dollars are working for you to heat your home. An AFUE rating of 9. What does BTU stand for BTU stands for British Thermal Unit and is a measure of the heating output of your furnace. An improperly sized furnace will either not heat sufficiently or will be overpowered, causing it to cycle on and off frequently. This wastes energy, causes your homes temperature to fluctuate, and can even damage your furnace. Furnace Types Single Stage vs. Dual Stage vs. Variable Speed vs. Modulating Furnaces. These are the four major types of furnace, though a furnace can be both modulating and variable speed as this refers to burner type and blower speed, respectively. Heres a comparison of the pros and cons of each one. As it sounds, only one stage. With a single stage model, your furnace is either on or it is off, theres no in between. Pros of Single Stage Furnaces somewhat lower initial price. Cons of Single Stage Furnaces inefficient energy useinconsistent temperature delivery throughout your homeinconsistent temperature control frequent hot cold fluctuationsnoisyhigher energy bills. A dual stage furnace has high and low settings. It starts off in the first stage which is low output. The low output stage meets your homes heating needs 8. It switches to the second stage which is high output in response to extreme cold weather changes. Pros of Dual Stage or Two Stage Furnace improved temperature delivery throughout your homebetter temperature controlefficient energy useadjusts to weather changeslower energy billsquiet. Cons of Dual Stage or Two Stage Furnace somewhat higher initial price than single stage. This refers specifically to the blower, which monitors and adjusts incrementally, to ensure the highest comfort and most precise heat distribution throughout your home. Pros of VariableMulti Speed Furnaces Cons of VariableMulti Speed Furnaces somewhat higher initial price. This refers specifically to the burner, which adjusts incrementally in order to respond to the heat demands of the home. Pros of Modulating Furnaces improved temperature delivery throughout your homebetter temperature controlefficient energy useequipped with variable speed blower. Cons of Modulating Furnaces initial cost of purchase is usually more expensive. Advanced Furnace Features. The following features and technology are often featured on top of the line ENERGY STAR furnaces. There is certainly nothing wrong with buying a heating system which doesnt have any of these features, but for those looking for peak performance and efficiency, look for the following. However furnaces with these features rarely come cheap ECM Motors. Dual heat exchangers when two heat exchangers are used the furnace is able to draw more heat from the burned gas, which makes them more energy efficient. Ignition systems pilot lights are becoming a thing of the past, in favour of an electronic ignition system which increases a furnaces efficiency rating. Programmable smart thermostats Not a furnace feature per se, more of an addon. But programmable thermostats are easy to use and will save you money. New smart thermostats can learn from your personal heating preferences and adjust your homes heating automatically, like lowering the temperature during the day when youre at work. Turning your thermostat down just one degree each night results in a 2 reduction PDF on your annual heating bill. What is an ECM motor ECM stands for Electronically Commutated Motor and is essentially a motor which adjusts its speed to ensure precise and consistent airflow in an efficient way. Think of them kind of like cruise control on your car, in the way engine output will be precisely adjusted based on changing needs going uphill, etc in order to efficiently maintain a consistent driving speed. ECM motors can significantly reduce your furnaces electricity usage. Choosing a Fuel Type for your Furnace Propane vs. Natural Gas vs. Oil. When choosing a fuel type for your furnace the two major options for Canadians are natural gas or propane. The biggest factor that must be taken into consideration when deciding between a natural gas or propane furnace is whether you live in an urban or rural area. Your location will dictate which energy source is more appropriate for your furnace. Most urban city centers are equipped with natural gas pipelines making it the obvious choice. In rural settings natural gas pipeline infrastructure is not as readily available or may not be installed, which makes propane the most cost effective energy source over oil and electrical heating. Propane is somewhat less efficient than natural gas but is still a good alternative. One downside is that propane heating requires the installation of a large tank on your property, which is refilled periodically. Oil is becoming increasingly rare as a heating fuel for homes. Oil furnaces are not energy efficient, with some having an AFUE of only 6. PDF. That means for every energy dollar only 6. Not only is money being wasted and energy lost, an oil furnace puts more strain on the environment by burning more fossil fuel, which increases your eco footprint. This is why so many Canadians are choosing to make the switch away from oil heat. And with the exception of people living in Quebec who get relatively cheap electricity from Hydro Quebec, homeowners with electric heating in Ontario and elsewhere are increasingly switching to natural gas or propane due to high heating costs. For more information on conversions from oil or electric to propane or gas, see here. ENERGY STAR Furnace Ratings Explained Is it worth it When you see a home heating system with an ENERGY STAR certification in Canada you can rest assured that you are in the presence of an efficient furnace, and high efficiency means the biggest bang for your energy dollar. To qualify as an ENERGY STAR home heating system, it has to have 9. AFUE or more, that means 9.
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