Shopping for a furnace can be overwhelming. You know that it is a massively important decision, one that will impact your comfort and energy expenses for as many as 20 years, but you may not be familiar with what criteria set different furnaces apart from one another. One of the most important factors to understand is AFUE, or annual fuel utilization efficiency.

AFUE ratings are a measurement of heating equipment’s efficiency. It is a percentage based on how much fuel is consumed versus how much gets converted to heat that warms your house. For example, high efficiency equipment starts at 90 percent AFUE. This means that 90 percent of the fuel it uses will be converted to heat that actually ends up in your home while the other ten percent is expelled through a chimney, flue or some other outlet.

A high efficiency rating will help you get the most out of your heating equipment. If you have an old system, your rating may be as low as 55 percent. An upgrade will not only be more efficient — saving you up to 50 percent on your heating expenses — it can help you and your family stay much more comfortable throughout winter.

One important decision you have to make when shopping for furnaces is whether you want a condensing or non-condensing unit. You should bear in mind that though condensing models are more expensive, their AFUE can be up to 10 percentage points higher. When you look at the long-term energy savings — an important method to compare furnaces — you will see that over the span of 15 years, that extra cost upfront can be entirely offset and end up saving you money.

For more information on efficiency ratings and how they influence your energy savings and comfort, contact Powers Heating & Airtoday.  We proudly serve the Peachtree City area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about AFUE ratings and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Powers Heating & Air serves Peachtree, GA and the surrounding areas.  Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!