Is A High Efficiency Gas Furnace Worth The Expense?
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When the time comes for you to replace your old gas furnace will you be looking at a high efficiency gas furnace to replace your existing one? Do you even know what a high efficiency gas furnace is? Have you ever heard of AFUE? If you're looking at gas furnace reviews you'll be learning about this important measurement of energy efficiency.
AFUE or Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency is a guideline set forth by the US Department of Energy. According to Wikipedia AFUE "attempts to represent the actual, season-long, average efficiency of that piece of equipment, including the operating transients". What this means for the homeowner is a much more accurate picture of operating costs when installing a gas furnace.
If your present gas furnace is at least fifteen years old the AFUE is likely around 65%. If you're looking for the best gas furnace for your home you should start with an AFUE of at least 90%. Most manufacturers such as Trane, Goodman, Lennox and Rheem offer units with at least a 90% AFUE, some higher.
If you're thinking of installing a gas furnace consider this; experts agree that over sizing a unit results in more cycling off and on thereby resulting in a loss of efficiency. There are calculations, such as ACCA that homeowners and installers can use to determine the best gas furnace size for your home.
Goodman gas furnaces come in Standard Efficiency models with 80% AFUE and High Efficiency models with 95% AFUE. Experts also say if you live in a milder climate an 80% AFUE model should be fine. It's likely that the old gas furnace you are replacing has an AFUE of only 65%, so you'll definitely notice a difference with a high efficiency furnace running at 80% AFUE.
Look into a furnace that offers a multi-stage system. These two and three stage gas furnaces use variable speed blowers which help to maintain a more constant temperature. They bring the air up to temperature before they start blowing it into the house making the initial cold blasts of air from your old unit a thing of the past.
Rheem Ruud also offer a wide range of high efficiency gas furnaces. Their Prestige Series offers control upflow, control downflow and control horizontal gas furnaces all of which have an Energy Star Rating. Trane offers the XC three stage variable speed unit, the XV two stage variable speed unit and the XT single stage gas furnace as well as other models. The XC95 has a 95% AFUE, and the XV95 has an impressive AFUE rating of 96.7%.
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