As another frigid Indiana winter approaches, are you wondering if your furnace is going to be up to the job? If your furnace is more than 15 years old, it may be time to start thinking about furnace replacement, rather than waiting for it to break down when you need it most.
You may think your old furnace is chugging along just fine: it cycles on, it cycles off, the house is warm, so no problems, right? However, older furnaces can lose as much as 40 percent of the heat they generate up the chimney or flue, not to mention what may already be lost via leaks in your home’s ductwork or other areas. You may not realize how inefficient your old unit is until you compare it with the newer, high-efficiency models.
When you’re looking at furnace replacement, here are a few things that you should consider:
- AFUE (annual fuel utilization efficiency) Rating: An easy way to understand the AFUE rating is whatever the rating is, say 90 percent, is how much heat that the furnace generates actually stays in the house and how much is lost (in this example, 10 percent). Most high-efficiency furnaces also will have an Energy Star rating, and include variable speed fans.
- Size: Many older units are too big for the homes that they’re in. Bigger doesn’t mean warmer. Your HVAC professional will help you choose a furnace replacement that’s the correct size for your home.
- Efficiency: For climates like that in Indiana, it typically makes sense to go with a high-efficiency unit versus a standard or mid-efficiency model. Our furnaces have to work very hard all winter, and our fuel bills add up.
Finally, just do the math. Add up your annual fuel bills, and multiply it by the difference in efficiency of a new unit – say 20 percent. That is your expected annual savings in fuel costs. Divide that number into the cost of your replacement system, and that’s roughly the number of years that it will take your new furnace to pay for itself.
If you have questions about furnace replacement or would like some advice, contact the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) professionals at Mowery Heating, Air Conditioning and Plumbing. We’ve proudly served the needs of homeowners in Indianapolis for more than 40 years, and look forward to meeting all of your heating and cooling needs.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
Mowery services the Brownsburg, Indiana and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!
