When choosing a furnace for your Mid-Ohio home, you should consider a high-efficiency condensing furnace. A condensing furnace performs similarly to a conventional furnace with one major exception. With a conventional gas furnace, very hot combustion exhaust gases leave the primary heat chamber and escape out the chimney flue. Condensing furnaces cycle those gases into a secondary heat chamber where additional heat is extracted and distributed. All that remains is a bit of condensation that is released into the floor drain and a small amount of cool exhaust (100 degrees or less) that exits via PVC piping to the outside.
For furnaces and boilers, energy efficiency is rated by the annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) rating, or the ratio of fossil fuel used in proportion to the annual heat output. Because condensing furnaces capture and distribute that additional exhaust, they rate 90 percent or higher. That means that 90 percent of the fuel energy heats the home, while the remaining 10 percent is dispersed. By including features such as dual stage burner gas valves and variable speed fans, that rating can increase to as high as 97 percent.
Beginning May 1, 2013, in-home gas furnaces installed in the Northern states (including Ohio) must have an AFUE rating of 90 percent or better. It is estimated that this change will result in an overall reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by millions of metric tons. The U.S. Department of Energy recommends high-efficiency condensing furnaces for homes in Ohio and the other Northern states, because of their high AFUE rating and low emission of greenhouse gases. Condensing furnaces are a smart choice for those who want to conserve energy and protect the environment.
For more information on the benefits of a condensing furnace, contact Joe Behr Plumbing and Heating, Inc. We've been proudly serving our Mid-Ohio neighbors since 1965.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Mid-Ohio area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about condensing furnaces and other HVAC topics, visit our website.
