When To Purchase A New Furnace

When it comes to replacing your furnace, timing is everything. While you don’t want to buy a new furnace too soon, you also don’t want to wait too long and be without heat when one breaks down unexpectedly.

Look for these indications that it’s time to buy a furnace to help you time it perfectly:

Your furnace is older than fifteen years. Mechanical systems degrade with time due to wear and tear and a decrease in energy efficiency. Even though buying a new furnace costs money, it will save you money in the long run because of lower heating expenses.
Without a dramatic change in the weather or your preferred level of comfort, your heating costs keep going up.
Strange noises begin to emanate from the blower section of your furnace. This may indicate a failing heat exchanger or motor.
Your furnace requires regular maintenance. Consider central heating and cooling installation when the mechanical and electrical components inside the furnace need to be replaced on a regular basis. While the absence of heat is uncomfortably uncomfortable while you wait for a repair or replacement components, the cost of new parts and labor may not be worthwhile, especially if your heating costs continue to rise.
You may see rust on your furnace. Rust inside the blower compartment is a warning indicator that replacement may be necessary soon.
Your furnace’s heat exchanger is broken. This crucial component might be damaged by improper maintenance or running your system with a clogged air filter. Call your HVAC contractor as soon as the furnace is turned off if your carbon monoxide (CO) detectors sound during the operation of the furnace or shortly after it shuts off. CO emissions could be coming from a damaged heat exchanger in your home. Unless a warranty covers parts and labor for repairs, a damaged heat exchanger nearly often necessitates a furnace replacement.

Factors To Take Into Account Before Replacing A Furnace

When choosing a new furnace, the following three elements are crucial to take into account:

A furnace’s size
Usage of less energy
Fuel supply

These elements have an impact on the cost of your new furnace, how it operates in your home, and how much it will cost you to operate it over its useful life. Before investing in a new furnace, it is best to speak with an HVAC expert to see how these considerations apply to your home.

Sizing

Your comfort, energy costs, and system life will all be affected in both the short and long terms by the size of the furnace you choose for your house. Before purchasing a new furnace, your HVAC contractor should use Manual J software to perform a load assessment for your house to determine the optimum match. The size of your house is one factor, but there are others as well, such as:

The overall energy effectiveness of your house
The area’s square footage that you want to heat
The house’s design
The heat you produce inside
The size of the family and the ages of each member
Preferences for temperature

A system that is over- or undersized could increase energy consumption and shorten the lifespan of the new system if the sizing step is skipped and the size of the current equipment is used instead. You might discover during the sizing process that you can add insulation and repair air leaks to lessen your heating load, which will allow you to buy a less expensive, smaller furnace.

Energy Savings

Annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE rating), which starts at 80, is a measurement of heating efficiency for combustion heating systems. Instead of overall usage, this grade shows the proportion of fuel that the device uses to heat your home. An appliance with an 80 AFUE saves fuel by using 80 percent of it for heating as opposed to throwing it up the chimney.

You’ll discover that systems with a higher AFUE cost extra when purchasing a new furnace. The highest-rated systems on the market have ratings in the upper 90s. Better efficiency leads to lower heating costs over the system’s lifetime because winters in our region can be long and harsh.

Energy Sources

The fuel your old furnace uses can be more expensive than modern ones, so find out what fuels are available in your area and compare their prices. By picking the appropriate gasoline, you might be able to save even more money.

Important Furnace Features To Think About

Since you last purchased a new furnace, a lot has changed. The HVAC sector experiences fast technological advancements! New furnaces come with a variety of modern technologies that increase home comfort and save energy.

Consider the following cutting-edge features to look for in a new heating system when you buy a furnace:

A furnace with a variable-speed blower can provide air more softly and gradually than one with a single-speed blower. Additionally, it aids in maintaining a constant temperature and reducing drafts. A variable-speed blower uses less electricity since it transforms AC power to DC. Engineering studies show that these blowers can save heating expenses by as much as 40%.
Variable heat output: Many furnaces with variable-speed blowers include this feature. Depending on the need for warmth, it automatically modifies output.
No need for a pilot light, please! Modern furnaces don’t require a constant flame since they use intermittent, direct-spark, or hot-surface ignitions, which makes them more energy-efficient.
Gas valve with two stages: This energy-saving device is intended to run in its first stage when the need for heating is moderate. The valve operates in its second cycle when the outside temperature drops and the need for heating increases. Savings-wise, the two-stage architecture gives a lot of advantages.
In order to withstand corrosion, look for a heat exchanger made of stainless steel. Additionally, stainless steel structure enhances resistance to thermal fatigue.
High-efficiency furnaces frequently include electrostatic or HEPA filters, which are more effective at trapping pollutants than regular air filters. To capture particles, an electrostatic filter uses an electrical charge. While a HEPA filter is denser than a regular filter.

Discuss the use of zonal heating with your contractor when you purchase your furnace. When one part of your home is prone to heat loss, zoned heating enables you to maintain a constant temperature throughout. You may be able to maintain various temperatures around your house. For instance, if you have an elderly relative living with you, you can keep their room warmer than the rest of the house.

What Is The Price Of A Furnace?

It goes without saying that furnaces are not inexpensive. But when they have a general notion of what to anticipate, the majority of homeowners feel better at ease looking for equipment and getting quotations from contractors.

The price your contractor gives you for a furnace includes both the equipment and installation. Your contractor sells you the equipment, and he also handles the installation for you. All of the aforementioned elements and features have an impact on the price of the equipment, and some other elements have an impact on the price of installation, such any renovations required to make your home compatible with the new system.

The following estimates should be kept in mind while purchasing a furnace: