Are you concerned that your furnace will not make it through the winter? The temperatures can get very cold in the Southfield, Oak Park, and Ferndale area. Now is the time to replace that old furnace to avoid an emergency in mid-winter. There are a few factors to consider when making your decision on the right new furnace for your home.
Always discuss your plans with a professional contractor. A trained technician can calculate the correct size of furnace for your amount of living space. A furnace that is too small or too large will not be energy efficient. The most popular fuel for modern furnaces is gas.
Furnace Facts
- AFUE rating – The Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency or AFUE is a measurement of how efficiently a furnace converts fuel into heat measured in percentage. Today, many furnaces are higher than 90 percent efficient. Several furnaces are rated at 97 percent or higher. Seventy-eight percent is the lowest efficiency allowed by law.
- BTU rating – British thermal unit or BTU is the measurement of the furnace’s capacity. As mentioned before, the correct size is very important.
- Furnace types – There are three types of furnaces available to the homeowner.
- Single-stage furnace – The single stage gas valve allows only full open operation. Since the furnace is running at full capacity all the time, energy efficiency can suffer as heat is lost.
- Two-stage furnace – This method employs two-stage operation, the first being a lower capacity setting which is very energy efficient. The furnace can kick into full capacity if necessary because of weather conditions. Quiet operation is another benefit of two-stage operation.
- Variable blower motor furnace – The variable speed blower motor can be used with a single- or two-stage furnace. The blower fan is capable of running without the furnace in operation. This provides more air filtering and less wear on the furnace while providing consistent heat.
Please contact Aladdin Heating and Cooling with any concerns regarding a new furnace. We have been proudly serving Detroit and all the surrounding areas since 1945.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Warren, Michigan about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about furnaces and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Credit/Copyright Attribution: “PJStock/Shutterstock”