Downflow, Upflow, Horizontal, Or Counterflow: Which Furnace Configuration Is Better?

When selecting the ideal furnace for your home’s HVAC system, airflow arrangement is crucial. But how would you choose the best furnace airflow setup for your house?

The location of the furnace’s air intake and exhaust is referred to as the airflow arrangement. Basement owners are advised to use upflow furnaces. People without basements can install downflow furnaces in their attics. A horizontal furnace can be installed in a home with low ceilings, though.

What Sets Upflow, Downflow, Horizontal, and Counterflow Furnaces Apart From Each Other?

Even on the coldest winter night, a furnace keeps your home warm.

In order to do this, hot air is forced out of the ducts and cold air is drawn into the system, where it is heated and the cycle is repeated.

The method that furnaces use to transform cool air into hot air and distribute it to your ducting is methodical. This is greatly facilitated by their physical orientation or design. Before air travels into your ducts and out of the vents, it would identify where cold air enters and warm air exits.

How effectively your furnace responds to your heating needs will depend on the airflow configuration it has. The majority of furnaces are put in basements, but what about homes without basements?

Here, you can still install a furnace to meet your home’s heating demands by having one with a modified airflow design.

Without further ado, let’s discuss the various airflow arrangements and their potential applications.

Furnace With Downflow Setup

Downdraft furnaces are another name for downflow furnaces. Warm air exits from the bottom of the furnace while cool air comes from the top of the air handler. In order to transport warm air throughout the house, ducting is installed beneath the unit.

They function best in houses with slab foundations and no basements. They could be installed in the attic and linked to the HVAC ductwork. Others have them set up in the garage or a main floor closet.

However, as hot air rises, this isn’t the best airflow design. Homeowners must, however, make do with their unique conditions, which call for the usage of this sort of furnace.

This would require some modest construction work to fortify the subflooring in the attic and to build a fire-resistant barrier between the furnace and flooring for safety reasons. It is also less energy-efficient.

One’s head and upper body get heated first because hot air is flowing from the attic or higher area of the house. Some folks might find this uncomfortable.

Furnace With Upflow Setup

Most homes that have enough room in their basements for full-sized units (also known as highboys) built with blower fans beneath the heat exchanger use upflow furnaces.

Since they are smaller in size, the lowboy form of this furnace is suggested for those with low ceilings and low clearance. To avoid taking up too much vertical space, their blower fans have been moved to either behind or next to the heat exchanger.

Cool air enters at the bottom or top of the air handler in an upflow air system, while hot air is expelled through the top side of the furnace. It then passes through the ductwork in your home before being released in various vents, ensuring that every area is supplied with warm air.

The ductwork is situated above the furnace, which is another characteristic of this type of furnace. This reflects the rising trend of hot air in nature. This indicates that the warm air from the furnace moves into the ductwork with less assistance.

Less energy is consumed, which results in lower electricity costs. The floor registers will be the source of the air. This makes it simpler to distribute heat evenly across the space.

Furnace With Horizontal Setup

These furnaces have the appearance of a furnace that is on its side. On one side, untreated air enters, and on the other, heated air exits. With reference to the side from which the warm air is drawn, appliances are referred to as horizontal left or horizontal right furnaces.

Homes with little space should use them. They can be set up in basements or crawl spaces with low ceilings.

Furnace With Counterflow Setup

The same rules apply to downflow and counterflow furnaces. They draw in cool air from the top of the furnace and exhaust heated air downward toward the ductwork that is located underneath. Due to a lack of room or the absence of a basement, these are typically put in the attic.

Upflow, downflow or counterflow, and horizontal flow are the only real airflow combinations for furnaces.

How Can I Determine The Furnace Configuration I Require?

The easy solution to this problem is to hire a qualified HVAC professional to inspect your house and determine which furnace configuration will be most effective given the design of your house and your heating requirements.

Your HVAC professional might suggest furnaces that can be adjusted in numerous ways in addition to the three furnace airflow configurations mentioned above.

Both upflow/horizontal and downflow/horizontal layouts of furnaces are offered. Installers can customize the airflow of upflow/horizontal furnaces to be either upflow or horizontal (but not downflow). While this is going on, downflow/horizontal can be set to go either downflow or horizontal (but not upflow).

Last but not least, your HVAC expert can set up multipositional or multi poise furnaces so that the airflow can move up, down, horizontal left or horizontal right, according on what would work best with the arrangement of your home. These furnaces offer maximum flexibility and can be modified depending on your heating needs and available space if you’re unsure of the airflow configuration that would fit your home.

Why Is Airflow Crucial In HVAC Systems?

We have been discussing the many kinds of airflow setups. Let’s now go over the importance of appropriate airflow and why you should carefully examine it before selecting the best furnace for your house.

The benefits of having balanced airflow in your HVAC system are as follows.

Lower Cost
You can save money when there is adequate airflow since your HVAC system uses less energy. It doesn’t have to work as hard to keep the interior of your home at a suitable temperature. You use less energy since it delivers your preferred temperature level more quickly.

Improved Indoor Air Quality
Clean air circulation can aid in the removal of indoor contaminants such dust, mildew, and germs. Additionally, it eliminates the space’s musty odor. There will be less allergic reactions for you. Due to cleaner air, it generally keeps your family healthier.

Comfort
Everyone in your home feels comfortable regardless of where they are because when the air is flowing properly, it uniformly cools all the rooms.

Extended Furnace Lifetime
Your furnace won’t experience premature deterioration because it won’t have to work too hard to maintain the temperature you want. Even while wear and tear is unavoidable, when your furnace’s airflow is regulated, it doesn’t have to happen right away.

Open all of the vents in the house to promote even heating and further ensure that your furnace is receiving adequate airflow. As part of its maintenance, you should also replace the air filter on a regular basis. Some filters require replacement more frequently than others. To find out the manufacturer’s advice on the recommended schedule for filter changes, you should consult the owner’s manual.

How Can You Determine The Type Of Furnace You Need?

Along with the airflow arrangement that we previously discussed, these are two important aspects to take into account if you’re still looking for the ideal furnace for your home.

Energy Source
Depending on the fuel or power source, there are four different types of furnaces.

Gas Heaters
These are the most typical furnace models available. They are natural gas-powered. There are businesses that provide natural gas to residences, which is more practical for homeowners.

These furnaces have a high initial investment, but due of their low operating costs, users end up saving money over time.

They are more energy-efficient since they can heat your house more quickly.

Electric Heaters
These are electrically powered. They are reasonably priced, simple to install, and practical to use. However, because they use electricity to work, these furnaces are expensive to run.

This kind of furnace is suggested for locations with warm or mild temperatures where seasonal heating requirements are low.

Oil Heaters
Home heating oil is used in these furnaces. Usually, the oil tank is buried close to the house. Due to the fact that oil burns at a higher temperature, they are also energy-efficient.

Propane Furnaces
They need a propane tank to operate. Installing them is not too difficult. They are more effective at heating your homes and don’t use a lot of propane gas either. The drawback is that to maintain a constant power supply, you must constantly refill your propane tank.

Heat Stage
Different heating phases are offered by furnaces.

Single Heat
The majority of older models have this. These furnaces only have one flame setting, therefore the size of the heat flame is constant. They just have a on or off function, thus depending on the outside temperature, they will probably be on and off repeatedly throughout the day.

Although these furnaces are less expensive, their thermostat may not always be accurate. Smaller homes should consider these.

Multiple-Stage Heat
These furnaces provide heating that is more precise. They have flames in two sizes. When it’s milder outside, use the smaller flame; when it’s freezing cold outside, use the larger flame. Medium-sized homes are the greatest places to use these furnaces.

Changing Heat
These furnaces allow you greater control over the flame size you require to generate your chosen temperature and keep it there all day. On the market, modulating heat furnaces are the most expensive kind. For larger homes with numerous storeys, it is advised.

Consider the fuel source and heat stage of the furnace you are selecting in order to determine which one can meet your heating requirements.

To Wrap Up

Consult an HVAC expert to ascertain the best airflow configuration for the design of your home and to ascertain how effectively your heating requirements will be met.