How to Compare Gas Furnaces

Make your home more efficient with a new gas furnace.

High utility bills in the winter are enough to make anyone cringe. If you're tired of paying to heat your home with an inefficient unit, it may be time to compare gas furnaces. A gas furnace buyer's guide can help you determine what to look for when you buy a gas furnace so you find a unit that runs efficient enough to pay for itself in a reasonable amount of time, without buying a unit that provides more efficiency than you can ever recover in energy savings.

Instructions

1. Check the Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating when you compare gas furnaces. The AFUE rating calculates the rate at which the gas furnace converts gas to energy. A high AFUE rating means the gas furnace quickly converts gas to energy, meaning it runs more efficiently than gas furnaces with lower AFUE ratings.

2. Ask about condensing models to add even more efficiency to your home. Condensing models have AFUE ratings of at least 90 percent, making them some of the most efficient gas furnaces you can buy. A gas furnace with a condensing unit uses some of the heat that previously would have escaped your home through the flue, and recycles it so it heats your home instead.

3. Research the electrical efficiency of a gas furnace. Focusing on the gas efficiency is important when you buy gas furnaces, but gas isn't the only form of energy used by a gas furnace. Gas provides heat for your home, but gas furnaces use electricity to power the fan motor. A variable speed fan motor helps improve the electrical efficiency of gas furnaces, which equals more money in your pocket when it's time to pay the monthly utility bill.

4. Compare gas furnaces sized to heat your space. Buying a gas furnace that's too small for your house will cost you more money because the furnace must work harder to heat your space. Buying a gas furnace that's too large for your house also doesn't maximize the efficiency of the unit. Instead, ask a heating expert or someone from your utility company to perform an "ACCA Manual J" or a better heat loss analysis which can help determine the appropriate size gas furnace you need.

5. Choose a reputable company to install your new gas furnace. A top-of-the-line gas furnace may not run efficiently if there are mistakes made during installation.

Tips & Warnings

• Ask your utility company about rebates offered if you buy a high efficient gas furnace. Upgrading to a higher efficiency may mean a larger rebate, which will offset the out-of-pocket costs you incur.

References

• Lennox: AFUE
• American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy: Heating Systems

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish