How High Efficiency Furnaces Can Save You Money On Overland Park HVAC Repairs

Technology in general has come a long way in the last fifty years. Furnaces and their efficiency are definitely a part of that trend. In older homes especially, people experience outrageous heating prices throughout the winter months without giving it a second thought. Often, a furnace isn't replaced until it's on it's last leg, or you and your family spend some nights freezing because it's finally gone out. While saving money is a big motivator in delaying the purchase of a new furnace, it might actually cost you more money in the long run. Once you buy a new furnace you likely won't have to spend money on one for the lifetime of your home. The good news is you start saving money the day you get it.

How can you tell that it's time to buy a new furnace? If your furnace acts up every winter and you are investing money to get furnace repair in Overland Park, it's time to do something about it. Buying a new furnace can help you avoid spending money in repairs. But it also cuts down on your monthly bills. The older the furnace, the less efficient it is. Just because an old furnace puts out heat does not mean it is doing so in a way that is cost effective or good for the planet. The better a furnace runs, the better off the environment is due to lower emissions, and the more money you have in your pocket every winter.

To give governments and consumers an idea of how well a furnace operates, there is a special rating known as an AFUE, or Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency rating. By finding out how much fuel a furnace uses while turned on, and contrasting that with the amount of that fuel that got turned into exhaust, a rating is given. For those furnaces built during the 1970s, a 65% is a typical score. That means that 45% of the fuel that was used up escaped through a flue. Your furnace then has to use up more fuel to keep the same temperature as that of a higher efficiency furnace.

A 65% rating is no longer acceptable. The furnaces being made today are held to a much higher level of scrutiny. The absolute minimum rating allowed by the government is now 78%. Those measures help lower the impact on the environment. The good news for consumers is that you can have far better than that. If you can believe it, there are furnaces with ratings as high as 98.2%. That means that only 1.8% of the fuel used in a furnace with this rating gets wasted.

Those types of ratings are helpful to the environment. But they also help homeowners save money. For those who purchase high efficiency furnaces with an AFUE rating of over 90%, there is a drop in their bills by 25% to 30%. When your furnace continually breaks down and you have to call an Overland Park HVAC company every winter, it's time to buy a new one. Stay warm this winter without having to pay an arm and a leg for it.