When deciding on a furnace to warm your home during the cold winter months, there are a variety of factors you might want to take into account before settling on the right one for you. You may think the most important factor is the size of the furnace, or perhaps the type of fuel your furnace uses. However, one thing that you might overlook when purchasing your furnace is how efficient it might be at producing heat.
High-efficiency furnaces have grown in popularity in the past decade as they help homeowners cut down on fuel costs and reduce their environmental footprints.
By choosing Limcan to meet all your furnace needs, you can rest assured that you are being provided with industry-leading advice and care so that you are never left out in the cold.
Homeowner Responsibility
Over the past couple of decades, the attitudes toward heating your home have shifted from merely wanting to heat your house to wanting to remain both budget and environmentally conscious. High-efficiency furnaces often come with a higher initial price tag compared to mid-level furnaces. However, in most cases, the money you save on your bills by choosing a high-efficiency will be greater than the money you save from purchasing a less-efficient furnace.
The environment has been an ever-growing concern for homeowners, and high-efficiency furnaces provide you with the opportunity to reduce your carbon footprint by limiting your emissions.
Technological Advancements
Furnaces have come a long way. Technological advancements have made it so that you can improve the efficiency of your home heating system in a variety of ways.
Zone Heating
Smart thermostats have provided homeowners with the opportunity to heat different zones of their homes to help minimize the amount of heat required. While these can be more expensive than standard thermostats, being able to granularly control your home’s temperature to suit your needs can result in lower heating bills, saving you money.
Electronic Ignition
Typically, gas and propane furnaces are ignited using a standing pilot light, which has to remain lit. Because the pilot light is always burning, your furnace is continuously using fuel so that your furnace is always ready for use.
With an electronic ignition, however, your furnace is no longer burning fuel constantly to be used, providing you with a more efficient way to start your furnace.
Fuel Choices
Most homes in Canada rely on gas furnaces. Their ability to heat homes in even the coldest of weather has made them incredibly attractive to homeowners; however, there are other options available.
Electric furnaces can have an efficiency rating of 100% AFUE, which is great for homeowners who are looking to cut their gas bills. However, the trade-off is that electric furnaces will raise your electric bill for your home.
If you aren't located on a main gas line, your next option for heating your home is using oil. Oil furnaces generally are less efficient with an 80% to 90% AFUE rating. For some homeowners, this might be the only option left to heat your home, so be aware of the efficiency rating of your furnace before you purchase a new one. Less efficient furnaces can also take a bite out of your wallet come wintertime when they need to run more frequently to keep your home comfortable.
Two-Stage Heating
A lot of older homes contain single-stage furnaces, which means that the furnace only has two states: on and off. Two-stage furnaces offer homeowners more control over the amount of power the furnace uses, one option generally for 50% power and another for full power.
For very cold days, you can use full power to heat your house, but on days when you only need a little bit of heat in your home, you can use the lower power function. This can help reduce the amount of fuel required to heat your home.
How Efficient is Your Furnace?
If you don’t already know how efficient your furnace is, look for the EnerGuide label. This label allows you to easily compare your furnace to other similar models. If you are using a gas or propane-powered furnace, you can expect your furnace to sit with an AFUE rating between 90% and 98%.
If you can’t determine how efficient your furnace is, or if you are looking to upgrade to a more efficient model, be sure to contact our experts at Limcan. Our expertise can set you on the right path to finding a high-efficiency furnace to meet your home heating needs while also helping you save money and safeguard the environment.
