If your furnace is approaching 12 years old or more, you may want to give serious thought to replacing it with a modern high-efficiency model. Newer models are far more efficient in terms of energy savings. An older furnace can become less efficient as it ages. After about 10-15 years, your furnace’s performance typically begins to fall off. Researching for a new furnace can be time consuming and a daunting task. For a more methodical approach is sure to produce a better long-term decision for your household. Here are some tips on how to go about finding the right new furnace for your Kansas City area home.
- Contact HVAC contractors to get estimates to replace your existing heating system. Have your contractor provide a custom load calculation to be assured the new heating system will be sized appropriately, since the size is critical to good performance and efficiency.
- Assess the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) for each of the models you are considering. AFUE, simply speaking, measures the percentage of gas gets converted into heat during furnace operation. The lowest allowable AFUE rating now is 78 percent, while high-efficiency condensing furnaces start at AFUE 90 percent. The higher the AFUE, the less energy costs you’ll have to pay in utilities over the life of your furnace.
- Since the efficiency rating directly corresponds to the price of furnaces, you’ll have to consider the price vs. efficiency ratio, keeping in mind that a more costly ticket price may be recoverable after a certain number of years by a more efficient furnace.
- Find out whether models are fairly new on the market, which means they haven’t been extensively field-tested, or whether they’ve been around for at least a couple of years and have proven to be reliable. A good track record will mean a lot in terms of reliability for your new furnace.
For more than 30 years, Overland Park Heating & Cooling has been proudly serving residential and commercial customers in the Greater Kansas City area. If you should need expert advice on any kind of home comfort issue, please contact us and take advantage of our years of experience and expertise.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Overland Park, Kansas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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