{"id":1238,"date":"2019-11-11T11:00:13","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T16:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.atlanticrefrigeration.com\/blog\/?p=1238"},"modified":"2019-11-05T16:19:06","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T21:19:06","slug":"understanding-efficiency-ratings-electric-gas-furnaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atlanticrefrigeration.com\/blog\/heating-service\/understanding-efficiency-ratings-electric-gas-furnaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Efficiency Ratings for Electric and Gas Furnaces"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"dollar-signs-up-in-smoke\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Efficiency<\/em> is an important word when it comes to HVAC systems. People want to make sure they have heating and air conditioning units that waste as little energy as possible. This not only keeps utility bills lower, it\u2019s better for the environment because it puts less strain on power plants and natural resources. The US Department of Energy has a program called ENERGY STAR<\/a> to help consumers identify products with superior energy efficiency and quality features. When you\u2019re hunting for a new heating system or other HVAC product, look for the ENERGY STAR label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you\u2019ll also want to look at the actual efficiency rating\nof the appliance, and this can become a bit confusing because different appliances\nhave different criteria. Sometimes, efficiency ratings can be misleading without\nsome extra information\u2014and this is the case with the two most common types of\nfurnaces, gas and electric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

AFUE Rating<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The efficiency rating for any type of furnace is AFUE, annual\nfuel utilization efficiency<\/em>. This is a percentage that measures how much of\na furnace\u2019s energy source it converts into heat and how much goes to waste as\nexhaust. For example, an old natural gas furnace may have an AFUE rating of\n80%. This means the furnaces converts 80 units of every 100 units of natural gas\ninto the heat energy applied to the air. The other 20% goes to waste as exhaust\nfumes sent out a flue from the heat exchanger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern high-efficiency furnaces can achieve AFUE ratings in\nthe 90% range, with special condensing furnaces reaching an amazing 97%. Keep\nin mind that higher efficiency furnaces are more expensive to install. You will\nprobably save money over the years of the furnace\u2019s service life (provided you\nhad a professional size and install it), but you will need to balance these savings\nagainst installation cost and your current budget. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tricky AFUE Rating for Electric Furnaces<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When looking over furnace efficiencies, you\u2019ll pay attention\nto the higher AFUE ratings. And when you come across an electric furnace, which\nis less expensive to install than most gas furnaces, you\u2019ll see an AFUE rating\nof 100%!<\/em> Wow! Why not ditch your gas furnace and get this incredible bargain\nof a heater that doesn\u2019t waste any<\/em> energy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too good to be true? Yes. This is why it\u2019s important to\nunderstand that efficiency doesn\u2019t automatically equate to money savings. An\nelectric furnace has 100% AFUE automatically because that\u2019s how electric\nfurnaces work. They channel electrical voltage through heating elements to\ncreate electrical resistance heating: electric coils that turn red hot. There\nis no energy loss to do this. All the electrical power is used and there\u2019s no\nexhaust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what you must factor into this is the cost of electricity\nvs. the cost of natural gas<\/em>. In most areas, natural gas has is a less\nexpensive energy source than electricity. An electric furnace almost always\ncosts more to run than even mid-efficiency gas furnaces. We advise homeowners\nwho have gas connections to stick with gas furnaces when making upgrades to the\nHVAC system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Smyrna, DE, HVAC<\/a> experts can help you find the best home comfort solution for this winter and many to come. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Call Atlantic Refrigeration & Air Conditioning, Inc. for 24\/7 service.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sometimes, efficiency ratings can be misleading without some extra information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[76],"tags":[193,192,191,15,159],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atlanticrefrigeration.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atlanticrefrigeration.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atlanticrefrigeration.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atlanticrefrigeration.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atlanticrefrigeration.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1238"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.atlanticrefrigeration.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1241,"href":"https:\/\/www.atlanticrefrigeration.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238\/revisions\/1241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.atlanticrefrigeration.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atlanticrefrigeration.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.atlanticrefrigeration.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}