Spring is a great time of the year to make significant changes to a home’s HVAC system. Between the extreme cold of winter and the extreme heat of summer is a mild period when a house won’t need either its heating system or AC running, and HVAC technicians have more open schedules for convenient appointments.
So if you think your old furnace is ready to retire, right now is the ideal time to call us for furnace service in Fresno, CA or elsewhere in the Central Valley to replace it.
If the furnace you’re replacing is more than 15 years old, we want you to know about the excellent features available with different modern furnaces. Heating technology is always advancing, and many current furnaces offer superb energy-saving and performance-improving features:
Multi-Stage Burners
A.k.a. modulating burners. A furnace equipped with these burners can adjust the heat level in a home in a way a standard furnace can’t. With a standard furnace, the burners are either on or off, providing only one level of heat. The furnace runs until the temperature target is met, then shuts off. With a multi-stage burner, the burner can work at lower power levels and automatically adjusts to your comfort needs. This means using less power (the furnace won’t always need to work at maximum), a more even spread of heating, and less chance of the house getting too stuffy.
Variable-Speed Blowers
The motor that powers the blower fan of a furnace is another component that usually runs at only one power level. A variable-speed blower can work at lower capacity to adjust to indoor temperatures, which saves money and helps with more even heat distribution.
Sealed Combustion
The combustion chamber on older gas furnaces were open to the air around the furnace so the blowers could draw on air to ignite and burn. These are called atmosphere furnaces. The newer sealed combustion furnaces are not open to the air outside the furnace and instead draw the air they need through a PVC pipe that leads outside the house. This type of furnace is more energy efficient, safer, and won’t contribute to lowering indoor humidity.
Electronic Ignition Systems
This is now a basic part of almost all new furnaces and has replaced the older standing pilot light. An electronic ignition system either uses a hot surface (similar to lightbulb filaments) or sparks to ignite the burners. This helps the system save energy, since gas doesn’t have to be supplied continually to maintain a pilot light through the season.
Higher AFUE Ratings
These features all contribute to a higher efficiency rating for a new furnace: the AFUE rating (annual fuel utilization efficiency). Even a furnace without these features will still have a superior AFUE rating compared to an older furnace because of improvements in heating system manufacturing. Your new furnace, no matter what price range it falls in, will cost less to run…
…but only if you have professionals handle the replacement! No matter what, a gas furnace must be installed by a licensed HVAC technician. Talk to us today to find out what you need to know about your furnace replacement.
Purl’s Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning: Since 1952 “Quality Is the Cornerstone of Our Success.” Schedule a furnace replacement today.