Like most fuel-saving home appliances, high-efficiency furnaces cost more than others upfront. That complicates the idea of upgrading. Does it make sense to invest in a new system when you already have one that works?
Start answering those questions by zeroing in on three key points. As the heating season ends, the time is right to re-evaluate. A contractor can test the existing unit and provide an efficiency rating that you can check against new models. And there’s a season’s worth of fuel bills to compare with projected operating costs of possible replacements.
The idea is to establish where your system is now and what you can save by going to the range of 95 percent efficiency where only 5 cents of every heating dollar is lost in exhaust. (There is no exhaust with electric systems on site. There is a loss where the power is produced, say, in a coal-fired generating plant.)
Compare AFUE ratings
The Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency, printed on the manufacturer’s nameplate and product literature, expresses the percentage of usable heat derived from the fuel. If you’re old furnace says 75 percent and the new one says 95 percent, you’ll save about 20 percent of the fuel bill. Except those are optimum ratings. You’ll get the number on a new furnace, for a few years at least. But after several years efficiency drops a few points from age, and 5 to 10 percent without regular maintenance. The AFUE is also shown on the big yellow EnergyGuide label, which is different on furnaces than on most other major appliances. Instead of estimating operating costs, it shows the AFUE rating as a percentage on a sliding scale between the least and most efficient models in the category. To carry the Department of Energy’s Energy Star label, gas furnaces must have AFUE rating of at least 90 percent, and oil furnaces at least 85 percent.
Read more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/home/sc-home-diy-furnace-upgrade-20130322,0,359812.story
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