Do you need to replace your home’s heating, or are you looking for an upgrade to save money on your heating costs? Choosing the right heating unit isn’t always easy due to there being so many different options available. Each of the options also has some unique pros and cons. That’s why we’ve developed this guide to help you understand your options so you can make a more informed choice on which one is right for your home.
1. Determine Which Type of Unit You Want
The first step in choosing a new heating unit is to decide what type you want (e.g. a gas furnace, an electric furnace, an air-source heat pump, or a geothermal heat pump). Gas furnaces provide the quickest and most effective heating, but they are also less environmentally friendly than heat pumps. That’s partly because they use more energy and also because they produce carbon dioxide. An electric furnace is almost always going to be your least expensive option to install. It will also be by far the most expensive option to run since electric furnaces consume far more energy than a gas furnace or a heat pump.
Generally speaking, a heat pump or a geothermal HVAC system is often going to be the best option in a place with warmer winters like South Carolina. One reason is that air-source heat pumps and geothermal heat pumps are far more energy-efficient than furnaces. Another major advantage is that both of these options also provide cooling and will ensure your house stays cool all summer. A geothermal system will cost much more upfront than the other options, but it’s still a great investment that will add much more value to your home and help keep your energy bills much lower.
2. Make Sure You Understand Energy-Efficiency Ratings
Furnaces and heat pumps use different systems or scales to rate their energy efficiency. The efficiency of a furnace is rated in AFUE (annual fuel utilization efficiency), and AFUE ratings are quite easy to understand. That’s because this rating just expresses what percentage of the energy the furnace uses that gets converted into heat.
All gas furnaces waste some energy since they can’t capture and effectively use 100% of the heat produced by their burners. That means the combustion fumes produced by the burning gas still retain at least some heat when they exit the furnace’s heat exchanger and flow outside through the exhaust flue.
Conventional gas furnaces are considered medium-efficiency units and typically have an AFUE of 80%, which is the minimum requirement under U.S. federal law. If you have an 80 AFUE furnace, 20% of the energy it uses will always be wasted and your heating costs will be higher. Some conventional furnaces are a bit more efficient and have an AFUE between 83% and 85%.
Condensing furnaces are considered high-efficiency units and don’t waste nearly as much energy. That’s because they have a secondary heat exchanger that allows them to capture more of the heat from the combustion fumes before they flow outside. Any condensing furnace will be a minimum of 90% efficient, and the top-of-the-line units can be up to 98.5% efficient.
The efficiency of electric furnaces is also measured in AFUE. As long as an electric furnace is installed indoors, it will usually be between 98% and 100% efficient since it doesn’t lose heat outside like a gas furnace does.
The energy efficiency of a heat pump when it’s running in heating mode is expressed in a metric known as the heating seasonal performance factor (HSPF). HSPF ratings are a bit more difficult to understand since they look at a heat pump’s average efficiency throughout an entire winter. The reason this is necessary is that the efficiency of a heat pump varies depending on the current temperature outside. A heat pump operates at its peak efficiency when the temperature is 40 degrees or higher. The efficiency then continually decreases the lower the temperature gets.
HSPF ratings are calculated by dividing the total BTUs of heat a heat pump puts out in one season by the total amount of electricity it uses during the same period. It’s not really necessary for you to fully understand what HSPF ratings mean as long as you understand that the higher the rating is, the more efficient the heat pump is.
If you want to install a heat pump, you also need to consider SEER ratings since this tells you how efficient the heat pump is on average when running in cooling mode. SEER ratings are calculated the same way as HSPF ratings except that they look at the total BTUs of cooling the heat pump puts out over a season.
If you want to directly compare a furnace to an air-source or geothermal heat pump, you can also look at the percentage of the amount of heat a heat pump produces to how much heat it puts out. Air-source heat pumps are usually at least 200% to 300% efficient. Geothermal or ground-source heat pumps are typically between 300% and 600% efficient since they aren’t affected by the outdoor temperature.
3. Consider the Available Tax Credits and Incentives
If you’re still unsure of whether a furnace or a heat pump is the better choice, another thing to consider is what type of incentives are available for installing each one. Installing a high-efficiency gas furnace allows you to earn a federal tax credit of up to $600. If you instead choose a heat pump that meets the required energy-efficiency criteria, you can earn a credit of up to $2,000.
Most electricity companies also offer additional rebates for their customers who install a new heat pump. When you take these extra incentives into account, it means that a new heat pump will often cost you less than what you’d pay for a new gas furnace.
4. Know the Difference Between Single-Stage, Two-Stage, and Variable-Speed Units
All gas furnaces and heat pumps are single-stage, two-stage, or variable-speed units. Single-stage units are the most basic and use the most energy since they always run at 100% power. That means they typically cycle on and off two to three times an hour.
Two-stage units have an additional setting that allows them to operate at only around 60-70% of their full capacity and will run on this lower setting the majority of the time. This means they tend to be quieter and use quite a bit less energy than single-stage units.
Variable-speed units are the most expensive but also use the least amount of energy. That’s because they can have up to several hundred settings that they continually switch between based on the current temperature and how much heat they need to produce to raise or maintain the temperature. They also usually run almost continuously on a fairly low setting, which helps to keep the temperature across the entire house much more consistent.
5. Choose a Unit From a Reputable Brand
One important thing to note when it comes to any HVAC unit is that some brands are considered much better and produce higher-quality units than others. This is often reflected in the fact that units from more trusted brands come with better warranty terms.
Tuck & Howell, Inc. is proud to be an authorized dealer of both Lennox and Carrier products, which are two of the most trusted and reputable brands in the industry. That means we offer some of the best heating units available and can advise you on which options within your budget are best for your house. We’re a local family-owned company that’s been serving Greenville, SC and the surrounding areas since 1969.
Over the years, we’ve earned a reputation as the area’s best heating, cooling, and plumbing service. If you’re in the market for a new heating unit or need any maintenance or repair services, contact us to get the professional service and support your home and family deserve.
