Gas Furnaces Facts

As homeowners, we rarely even give a second thought to our furnace bills. As long as our furnace is keeping us warm in the winter and we do not see any significant changes to our utility bill, we are happy. Here are some questions you may be interested in knowing the answers to.

How does your gas furnace work?

What are the efficiency standards of your furnace?

Are you getting the most that you can out of your current heating system?

How does a gas furnace work?

A furnace works to keep a home warm in the winter and plays a critical part in the operation of an air conditioning system.

Furnaces produce heat through the combustion of natural gas in the furnaces burner. The heat produced from this process then passes through a heat exchanger. Air from your homes return air ducts is blown over the heat exchanger, thus warming the air. The furnace blower then blows the warmed air into the ductwork, which carries and disperses the warmed air throughout the home.

During warmer months, the blower inside a furnace continues to circulate return air throughout the home – only this time, the return air has been cooled by being blown over the indoor coil portion of the homes split-system air conditioning system. The condensing coil is typically installed on top of the furnace.

What are the efficiency standards of a furnace?

Energy Efficiency – The efficiency of a furnace can be determined by its AFUE, or Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency.

The minimum efficiency level for furnaces currently manufactured in the U.S. is 80% AFUE. A rating of “80% AFUE” means that for every dollar you spend heating your home; 80 cents are actually applied to the generation of warmth. Compared to many of the 60% AFUE furnaces in older homes, 80% AFUE furnaces are a significant improvement. However, for enhanced energy efficiency, you may wish to consider a 95+% AFUE furnace.

Benefits of an efficient gas furnace:

Indoor warmth any time it is required.

As your air conditioning and heating system pulls air out of the rooms in the house, the air is then pulled through an air filter, which removes airborne particles such as dust and lint. The filtered air then goes to air supply ductwork that carries it back to the rooms. Whenever the air conditioning system is running, this cycle repeats itself constantly.

This cleaning process can be improved by installing a variable-speed furnace. Variable-speed furnaces use variable-speed blowers that shift between several speeds. These furnaces will run longer at a low speed, resulting in the air being filtered more often.

The furnace also plays an important role in the operation of the air conditioner, its blower helps maintain a consistent indoor temperature and improved air quality year-round.

If you have any further questions or would like to schedule a consultation, please feel free to contact Air Repair Inc. at 972-625-1400.