When looking for the perfect heating system for your Broken Arrow home, you'll need to choose between a furnace and a heat pump. Let's help you out by breaking down their major differences.
How They Work
Most furnaces burn natural gas, propane, or oil to generate heat and blow it into your house. On the other hand, heat pumps don't generate heat or use fuel sources. They use electricity to move heat energy from outside into your home.
Due to how heat pumps work, they may not provide enough heat when the outdoor temperatures are too low. As a result, they're ideal for milder climates. Furnaces produce heat by themselves, providing greater heating ability in harsher winter conditions.
Furnaces only heat your home. Heat pumps can reverse how they work in the summer, collecting heat from your home and transferring it outside. As a result, heat pumps provide both heating and cooling.
Both heat pumps and furnaces include filters that you can replace easily. Typical heat pumps have an indoor and outdoor unit. Furnaces typically don't require an outdoor unit. However, they're frequently paired with central AC units.
Energy Efficiency
Scientifically, highly efficient heat pumps are more energy efficient than highly efficient furnaces. A heat pump can transfer more energy than it uses. At peak performance, the system can take a single unit of electricity to move as much as three units of heat into your house. As a result, it can be up to 300% efficient. On the other hand, highly efficient furnaces can have an annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) rating of around 98%.
In warmer climates, a highly efficient heat pump typically uses less energy than a gas furnace. However, in colder climates, a highly efficient gas furnace, such as one with an AFUE of 95% or higher, performs better than even an Energy Star-certified heat pump.
An HVAC professional can provide more help with choosing between a furnace and a heat pump, considering several factors like your individual needs, efficiency comparisons, and lifetime operating costs. If you need help with navigating different heating and cooling options or have problems with your current HVAC system in the Broken Arrow area, don't hesitate to contact us at Air Assurance.