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Why Installing a New Gas Furnace Can Be a Big Money-Saver

admin • January 23, 2017
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Although nobody really wants to schedule the installation of new home furnace right in the middle of winter, it’s often necessary if an old furnace isn’t doing its job due to age. It doesn’t have to be a major hassle, either. You only need to call on experts who can do the job fast and right. Our experienced technicians are happy to see that you have a great new gas furnace installation in Hoboken, NJ.

Putting in a new furnace costs money, of course, but it can also help you start to save money. Current furnaces have superior energy efficiency than old models. Furnaces once had AFUE ratings of 56% to 70%, which means they wasted anywhere from 44% to 30% of their natural gas fuel supply when generating heat. But there are now furnaces with AFUE ratings of 98.5% (meaning a mere 1.5% fuel waste), and the ENERGY STAR standard for furnaces is 90% AFUE. Switching from a furnace that has less than 90% AFUE to an ENERGY STAR-certified unit can mean significant savings on utility bills.

Why Are Furnaces More Energy Efficient Today?

This is a good question. We could simply chalk it up to “technology got better!” And that’s true. Heating and cooling equipment has advanced along with all other types of residential technology. But there are some interesting advances that have made gas furnaces better at converting natural gas into thermal energy with minimal waste.

We recently wrote about one of these advances, the condensing furnace. A quick re-cap: a condensing furnace runs the combustion gas from the burners through two sets of heat exchangers. The second exchanger condenses the vapor from the first exchanger, rather than simply venting it, and supplies even more heat. Condensing furnaces are the high-efficiency units that can achieve the astonishing 98.5% AFUE.

Okay, but else is there that’s improving furnaces? There are other advances that have moved furnaces far up in the ways they save energy:

  • Electronic ignition: The standing pilot light that furnaces used for decades must continually consume natural gas to stay lit. But pilot lights has been replaced with electronic ignition systems that use sparks or heated surfaces to light the burners. They don’t need to run continuously, and this reduces the amount of energy the furnace uses.
  • Two-stage burners: Older furnaces used burners that were either on or off. The furnace burned the same amount of natural gas regardless of the temperature requirements of the home. But new multi-stage burners can modulate how they work so they no longer need to run at maximum capacity at all times. Only when the house needs additional heating will the burners switch to full power.
  • Sealed combustion: The combustion chamber of a furnace that’s open to the rest of the house is an atmospheric combustion chamber. It draws the air necessary to combust natural gas from the air around the furnace—but it also allows heat to escape. Furnaces that used sealed combustion chambers don’t encounter this issue. They instead draw air from a PVC tube leading to the outside.

Talk to our heating experts to learn more about advances in gas furnaces. They’ll help you find the best furnace replacement for your winter comfort this year and many years to come.

 

Advanced Mechanical Services offers professional heating services throughout the Northern New Jersey Area.

 

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