Find Out How a Variable-Speed Furnace Works

Why settle for outdated, on/off heating when new variable-speed furnace technology excels in both comfort and energy efficiency? You may not realize it, but if you’re heating with gas like most Oklahomans, the cost of the electricity to operate the forced-air furnace blower is a major contributor to your heating expenses. Most installed furnaces incorporate a blower with a PSC (permanent split capacitor) motor. It’s an old-school energy hog and only operates at two speeds: on and off. A variable-speed furnace blower incorporates ECM (electronically commutated motor) technology programmed to circulate air continuously across a wide range of output speeds keyed to the heating requirements of the home.

Maybe it's time to move up to 21st-century heating technology and upgrade to a variable-speed furnace. Here’s an overview of the advantages.

More Consistent Heating

Conventional PSC furnaces create noticeable temperature swings in the home. As the blower cycles on and off repeatedly, temperatures may swerve from 10 degrees above the thermostat setting to 10 degrees below. Rooms are always overly warm or too chilly. A variable-speed ECM blower runs at low output continuously, maintaining comfort levels close to the thermostat setting at all times.

Lower Operating Costs

A typical PSC furnace blower guzzles over 500 watts of electricity when it's energized. A variable-speed ECM blower consumes less than 100 watts, substantially reducing the electrical component of your heating costs.

Improved Filtration

The air filter in your heating system protects indoor air quality—as long as air circulates through the filter. When a conventional system blower cycles off every few minutes, circulation stops and filtration ceases. Optimum air quality is also on-and-off. Because a variable-speed blower runs continuously, air filtration never stops and the indoor environment improves.

Longer Component Life

A conventional motor runs at full-blast output and turns on and off repeatedly, incurring substantial wear and tear. Variable-speed blowers run consistently at reduced output and stay cooler. This reduces wear and contributes to greater reliability and a longer expected service.

For more advantages of upgrading to a variable-speed furnace, contact the heating professionals at Air Assurance.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Credit/Copyright Attribution: “Gustavo Frazao/Shutterstock”

Buying A New Furnace: Understand AFUE Ratings Before You Choose

If your heating equipment was on the fritz at the end of last heating season, the time is now to upgrade your furnace. Amongst other things, it is imperative that you know how to read and understand the annual fuel utilization efficiency, or AFUE ratings that are displayed on all new furnace models. Here's why:What AFUE isAFUE ratings are a measurement of how well a furnace is able to change the energy within its fuel into usable heat throughout the course of a year. To be more specific, AFUE serves as the ratio of the furnace's annual output of heat versus the total amount of energy that is consumed by the boiler. All new heating equipment including both furnaces and boilers is required to display AFUE ratings so that consumers are able to easily make comparisons between the efficiency of various models.What the numbers meanWhen it comes to AFUE, the larger the number you see, the more efficient the furnace is. As an example, if a furnace has been assigned an AFUE rating of 85 percent, you will know that 85 percent of the energy from its fuel will be efficiently converted into heat from your home. The remaining 15 percent will be lost through your flue pipe, pilot light, or other means of losing efficiency.Other considerations when looking at AFUE ratingsFirst, it is important to keep in mind that AFUE does not take the losses of heat within your duct system or piping into consideration. If your home's ducts are located in your attic, you can expect that as much as 35 percent of your furnace's energy output could be lost. Your HVAC contractor can advise you on the best heating systems for a home with such a duct system. In addition, you should know that bigger is not always better with AFUE. Electric furnaces tend to have AFUE ratings between 95 - 100 percent, for example, but the higher costs of electricity over gas make these an uneconomical decision.For more advice on understanding furnace efficiency ratings, contact the professionals at Air Assurance. We proudly serve residents of the Tulsa and Broken Arrow areas.Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Furnace Replacement: An Easy Buyer's Guide

If you’re facing a furnace replacement this year, you can use this easy buyer’s guide to help you through the process. Homeowners can get bogged down in the details when selecting a furnace, but with these three key factors in mind, you can confidently select a system that will work with your home’s needs, and provide energy savings and comfort for many years to come.  For 2012, you can even take advantage of the money given by ONG, PSO, and Lennox to help with the investment cost.  This can be upwards of over $3000 on furnaces alone.SizeIn the past, most furnaces were over-sized to accommodate for drafty homes. That means that your current system might actually be too large for what you now need, especially if you’ve taken steps to increase the seal around your home’s exterior. In any case, under- and over-sized systems cost you, because neither will keep your home comfortable, nor ensure energy efficiency. Make sure your contractor conducts a load calculation to size the system to your home before installing a furnace replacement.EfficiencyWhen choosing a furnace, you should pay close attention to efficiency ratings, or Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE). These ratings are designed to show homeowners how efficiently a system operates, through a percentage that reveals the converted-energy-to-heated-air rate, and how much energy is lost. A high-efficiency system, above 90 AFUE, will get better energy savings, but requires a higher initial investment.FeaturesHigher-efficiency systems include features that allow them to get better AFUE ratings, which ultimately translate into more dollars in your pocket every month. Look for systems that include:

• Variable-speed blowers, which will evenly deliver heated air, and help to manage humidity in the summer.

• Dual- or multi-stage furnaces that have a valve which meters the delivery of fuel to optimize efficiency, depending on the demands of the weather.

• Advanced ignitions that have abandoned the inefficient pilot light in favor of intermittent, hot-surface or direct spark ignitions, which don't carry standby losses.

Selecting a furnace replacement can be easy, if you keep sizing, efficiency, and features in mind. For expert help selecting your next furnace system, contact the area’s leading HVAC experts at Air Assurance Heating, Cooling & Air Quality -- serving homeowners in the Greater Broken Arrow area for over 30 years.Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). Air Assurance services Tulsa, Broken Arrow and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our current promotions and get started today!