Your central heating system plays a significant role in heating your home and ensuring you don’t freeze during winter. Buying your first home furnace can be a pain in the neck since you can’t be sure what’s best for you then. You don’t have to worry anymore since we’ve committed this article to ensure you have all the required guidelines for buying a furnace.
Previously, people would sit around the fire trying to keep themselves warm through the evening. Nowadays, things have changed since you just have to press a switch button to warm the room.
When purchasing a furnace for the first time, you’ll have to consider several factors. It will help determine the final product you’re bringing home soon.
Fuel Source
Depending on your personal preferences, furnaces and air conditioner manufacturers have given you a wide range of options to choose from. Whether you’re looking for oil, electric, or gas furnace, you’ll probably get your model in the stores.
We recommend you to go for a gas furnace since it’s seemingly affordable compared to other furnaces. Each fuel source brings different benefits and downsides on the other hand as well. Gas furnaces are known to be cost-effective and energy-saving.
However, you need to connect the gas line or the gas source to your furnace. You can also go for oil furnaces which will require an on-site storage tank as the fuel source. However, oil furnaces can be less efficient than gas-fueled ones.
Electric furnaces are a popular choice for most homeowners. It’s because electricity is abundant and available more than any other fuel source. However, using an electric furnace might sky-strike your energy bills.
Warranties
As a homeowner, we recommend you to keep an eye on the different warranties in different models and companies to know what favours you the most. At this moment, the most efficient heating and cooling systems tend to have more extended warranties than basic furnace models.
It is best to seek a long-term warranty when purchasing a furnace since you’re going to spend a ‘lifetime’ with this magical mechanism. You can make inquiries about the model’s warranty from your contractor to be sure.
Size
Before heading out for your first furnace purchase, you’ll be forced to consider several factors, and ‘Size’ is one of them. First, you’ll have to know the room size in demand of the furnace before determining the size of the HVAC machine you’re going for.
A small model for a big house might lead to overworking and mechanical breakdown over time. Moreover, if you buy a more oversized furnace than your room, it will have to constantly re-adjust to achieve and maintain the desired temperature levels.
You’ll have to employ a lot of precision on size when buying a furnace since it’s a critical functional aspect. To hit the bull’s eye when choosing, you can seek advice and guidelines from a professional HVAC contractor. The contractor will accurately calculate your heating and cooling needs before offering you the best option that will suit your home.
Installation
It’s essential to be aware that no matter how much you ignore it, you’ll still have to check your furnace’s easy-to-install status before bringing the ‘boy’ home. The installation ease has become a reason for cancelling purchases and early orders since the beginning of furnace selling.
You have to consider this factor to know if the furnace you’re about to buy is compatible with your house structure, regardless of whether you’re making additional installations on your former furnace or purchasing a new one. You have to understand that some equipment might need other infrastructure on your house.
The installation project has always been unique and attention-demanding, thus calling out for professional help since it might sometimes be complicated. Contact your furnace manufacturers or a professional HVAC team to help you determine the suitable model for your home structure.
Model Efficiency
We can’t allow any room for mistakes when selecting the perfect heating and cooling systems for our homes. Therefore, one should research and debate with a professional about the model before heading for the shop. To measure a furnace’s efficiency, we will have to consider its Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE).
It tells the homeowner the amount of fuel the furnace is likely to consume during its operation for a year. Modern furnaces with higher AFUE ratings have proved to be more efficient. The efficiency ratings are an explanation for its slightly increased price compared to other furnaces.
The new digital furnaces tend to have an efficiency rating from the 80s to the 90s. This factor will help you trash a lot of options since you’ll be aware of the amount of fuel using your furnace uses for a year.
Maintenance Levels
Before carrying your furnace system home, you’ll have to consider its functional aspects. It will ensure you can handle it in terms of maintenance. You probably won’t think about it the first time you’re buying a furnace, but you’ll realize later that maintenance is vital.
There are some maintenance measures that you can take as a furnace owner when at home. You can perform regular maintenance schedules to ensure every component is working appropriately and efficiently as well.
Furnaces should receive at least an annual check-up for troubleshooting and maintaining the system’s efficiency generally. We recommend every furnace owner consult their HVAC experts or manufacturers to understand the yearly maintenance cost for your heating system.
Failure to perform maintenance practices will lead to a breakdown in your cooling and heating system, making it less efficient.
Buying a Furnace – Conclusion
Lastly, we’ll advise you to conduct proper research on the available heating and cooling systems before buying a furnace online or at the local stores. Following the factors and specifications stated in this article, you can easily choose from the wide range of options in terms of fuel sources and models in the market.
Don’t forget to keep in touch with a professional HVAC contractor or furnace expert before and even after completing your purchase. The specialists will help you make confident decisions about your purchase and offer you maintenance tips and services.