Smart home compatible. Things to consider when buying a gas furnace:. In rural areas, gas may not be available and there may be a more readily available or affordable fuel.
Gas furnaces require ducts to circulate heat throughout your home. Gas furnaces need to be inspected regularly so it is important to schedule annual maintenance. Gas furnaces are generally larger than a ductless split unit and will take up more space. Propane furnaces are a common choice for homeowners in rural areas or areas where other fuels are scarce, expensive or unavailable.
To operate a propane furnace, a propane tank will be installed outside of your home and connected to your furnace. As the propane is used to fuel your furnace, the tank will need to be refilled by a local service company. Benefits of a propane furnace:. Propane is readily available across the country, including remote areas.
Things to consider when buying a propane furnace:. It is often more expensive to operate than a gas model but is usually a more cost effective solution than an electric option. Refueling and storage. Propane tanks can only be filled by a licensed, trained and certified professional. Propane must be kept in government approved outdoor storage containers.
Propane furnaces require ductwork to circulate heat throughout your home. Propane furnaces need to be inspected regularly by a trusted professional. If you live in a rural area where it is more difficult or expensive to get other fuel such as gas, you may want to consider an oil furnace.
This type of fuel is readily available in most parts of Canada but has decreased in popularity over the years due to concerns about their operating cost, efficiency and emissions.
Benefits of an oil furnace:. Oil furnaces are often a good choice when other fueling options are scarce or unavailable. Most regions of Canada have access to oil. Temperature can be controlled remotely when you pair with a smart thermostat. Things to consider when buying an oil furnace:. Oil furnaces are usually more expensive to operate than gas or propane furnaces. A tank needs to be installed outside of your home to hold the fuel.
Oil furnaces tend to operate less efficiently than most modern gas and propane options. Ductwork is required to circulate heat throughout your home. Regular maintenance is required to keep the system operating efficiently.
Electric furnaces heat air that moves through ductwork by a fan, but instead of gas, propane or oil fueled burners, these types of furnaces produce heat using electric heater elements controlled by circuit breakers.
The cost of operating an electric furnace is relatively high in most regions, limiting the popularity of the equipment. Depending on your home, budget and desired level of efficiency, a furnace may not always be the right option for heating your home.
There are many great alternative options available. An air source heat pump split is a compact, modern, refrigerant-based heating and cooling system.
It consists of an outdoor unit and one or more indoor units, sometimes called heads. Splits were first popularized in Asia and Europe and are now becoming more common in North America.
The outdoor unit looks like a slim version of a conventional air conditioning unit. The indoor units are mounted in the ceiling, on the wall, or near the floor like baseboard heaters. Benefits of an air source heat pump split:. Considerations of an air source heat pump split:. Central air source heat pumps are similar to splits, but rely on ductwork to circulate both heating and cooling air in the home. The outdoor unit is called a condenser and the indoor unit is called an evaporator coil.
It is an efficient, clean energy option that operates a lot like a traditional furnace. Benefits of a Central air-source heat pump:. Considerations of a central air-source heat pump:. Geothermal systems are top of the line heating and cooling equipment.
These systems are also often referred to as ground source heat pumps. Geothermal heat pumps change the temperature in your home by transferring heat between the home and the ground. How it works. Geothermal takes advantage of a fundamental of basic physics: during cool seasons the temperature underground is warmer that the temperature of the outside air; and during warmer months it is cooler than the outside air.
Ground source temperature differentials are smaller than the air sourced differentials, allowing the heat pump to remain in a more efficient range. Geothermal systems move heat using liquid rather than air. Benefits of a geothermal heat pump:.
Considerations of a geothermal heat pump:. A boiler, or a hydronic heating system, provides heating by using a fuel source to heat a fluid such as water or glycol that is pumped through your hydronic heating system to various devices such as radiators or in-floor heating loops. Boiler heat does not require ductwork and is often be found in older homes. A combi-unit is a heating source that can also provide hot water through your home. Benefits of a Boiler:. Considerations of a Boiler:.
Geothermal offers one of the lower operating costs of any HVAC. Beyond selecting the right furnace type for you and your family, there are several other things to consider to ensure your unit is the right choice for your home and budget. Here is some information about furnace financing options, installation and accessories. One of the most important decisions when upgrading your heating equipment is choosing whether to rent or buy your system.
Before making the decision, you will want to determine the equipment you are having installed, the total cost of ownership and the cost and effort of maintenance. Renting and buying are both viable options, and making the right decision really comes down to your needs, time and budget. To help you evaluate the two options, here are a few things to consider. Your furnace plays and essential role in keeping your home warm as well as running your air conditioner in the summer. When it comes time to replace your furnace, consider upgrading your AC at the same time to help ensure you are getting the most out of your investment.
Benefits of replacing your air conditioner and furnace at the same time:. Energy Efficiency. Anytime you upgrade outdated equipment you could be investing in a more efficient system. Replacing both your furnace and air conditioner at the same time will help you maximize your energy savings. Equipment performance. Since your furnace and air conditioner work together, replacing just one piece could prevent the newer piece of equipment from reaching its potential performance.
Potential savings. Furnace and air conditioners are often sold together, so if you decide to upgrade both there may be deals or discounts available.
Having both pieces of equipment installed at the same time may also result in cheaper labour and installation costs. A furnace that has been professionally sized by a licensed technician will run more efficiently than an incorrectly sized unit.
The key to having a great heating system starts with a good installation. Here are a few of the frequently asked questions about having your furnace installed. Can I install a furnace myself?
Even if you are a handy person, installing something as complex as a new home heating or cooling system is not a good idea. A professional technician brings experience and updated knowledge of code requirements, modern electronics and new technologies. Unless you are a certified HVAC technician, a self-installed furnace could lead to a poorly operating, unsafe system. What makes a good furnace installer? How long does a furnace installation take?
Depending on the system that you are having installed, a furnace installation can take anywhere from a half-day to a full day to be properly installed. This includes the installation, testing and clean up. What should I expect during the installation? Most furnace installations will be done by two professionally trained technicians.
A good installation team will come on time and prepared with all the parts necessary to get the job done. The technicians should also be wearing booties over their shoes to protect your home, rolling out additional carpet and floor protection where needed. The furnace installation itself can take a few hours and once it has been installed, the team will fire it up and conduct tests to make sure it is working properly and in sync with your other systems.
Then they clean up completely, removing the old furnace, all parts and packaging. Six other brands earned Very Good reliability ratings. Each brand of furnace offers a similar array of key features, depending on price.
The furnace features most often highlighted in product literature and sales pitches are generally the ones found on the higher-efficiency models, but some manufacturers also offer them on premium versions of low-efficiency furnaces. Variable-Speed Blowers These can deliver air slower, while often making less noise, when less heat is needed.
That produces fewer drafts and uncomfortable swings in temperature. Variable Heat Output Available on some furnaces that have a variable-speed blower, this feature can increase efficiency and comfort by automatically varying the amount of heat the furnace delivers, usually between two levels. The furnace can thus deliver heat more continuously than one with a fixed heat output. Air Filtration Fitting a furnace with an electrostatic filter, which uses an electrical charge to help trap particles, or a HEPA filter can reduce the amount of dust blown through the heating system.
That might help people with asthma or other chronic lung diseases, as well as allergies, and you should read more about indoor air quality and our air purifier tests if this is a concern. Dual Heat Exchanger Heat exchangers are the components that draw heat from the burned gas. To draw more heat from the air they burn, energy-efficient furnaces supplement the primary exchanger with a second exchanger.
Because the exhaust gases in that second exchanger might yield a corrosive acidic condensate, the second exchanger is made of stainless steel, lined with plastic, or otherwise protected. Ignition System Fewer and fewer furnaces have a pilot light—a flame that burns continuously, awaiting the next command to ignite the burners. Furnaces with intermittent, direct spark, or hot-surface ignition do away with the constant pilot light in various ways.
Zoned Heating This feature uses a number of thermostats, a sophisticated central controller, and a series of dampers that control airflow to deliver different amounts of heating or cooling to different parts of the home. The larger the home, as a rule, the more useful zoning is. But contractors we interviewed said that furnaces connected to zoned ductwork generally require more repair. Warranty Basic, usually low-efficiency, furnaces often have a shorter warranty than their premium counterparts.
To heat your home and water, you can choose from among several energy sources. But gas is currently the most common heating fuel—most new central heating systems use it.
Heat Pumps Heat pumps that wring heat from outdoor air and reverse the process in summer to act as an air conditioner are inexpensive to install as an alternative to a cooling-only air-conditioning system. That makes them the preferred way to heat in regions where winters are typically short and mild. Our guide to heat pumps will give you a good overview. Other inexpensive electric-heat options include strip heaters, which are installed in the ductwork of central air conditioning, and permanently installed baseboard units in each room.
But before you consider any type of electric central heating in colder regions, keep in mind that electricity rates are much higher than those for natural gas and are likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future. You can get rate information for various fuels from local utilities and suppliers. Oil Furnaces These venerable models still retain a niche in older homes, mostly in the Northeast. In addition to choosing between different fuel sources, you also need to consider how many stages you want your furnace to have.
There are currently three options on the market. A single stage thermostat is more affordable, while a modulating furnace is the most expensive.
To choose, consider your budget and needs. Smaller, single-story homes don't require as much heating power as larger, multistory homes. If your home is somewhere in the middle, then a multistage heat furnace may be the perfect fit for you. AFUE stands for annualized fuel utilization efficiency. An AFUE rating reflects how much heat is produced for every dollar spent. The higher AFUE rating a furnace has, the lower the amount the homeowner should spend on fuel.
Ideally, you want a furnace with an AFUE rating in the '90s because these are the most fuel efficient furnaces. However, just be aware that furnaces with this high of an AFUE rating are usually some of the most expensive. Because it is such a large investment, consider the cost of fuel and operating costs, too, before you decide.
This is especially important if you plan on financing the purchase and will have monthly payments but you could always offset your energy costs with some new solar panels. You need to think about your ductwork, vents and more when considering buying a new furnace, too. Your furnace needs ductwork to transfer heat into your home. If you live in a newer home, your home's ductwork is likely already well taken care of. However, you will still want to have a licensed HVAC technician come to your home and test your home's ductwork system.
It may or may not be able to handle a furnace with greater blowing power. If you have been having issues with an older furnace, it's possible your ductwork may be to blame. The technician will be able to tell you if the ductwork was properly installed, or if there are any leaks or blockages. These steps will help you narrow the range of furnace options.
When shopping for a furnace, consider these six points:. Depending on your region, some furnace types work better than others.
Gas is the most popular fuel source because it is readily available and usually the least expensive. Gas furnaces are usually cheaper to buy and install, and they are less messy than oil furnaces. If gas supply is not available in your area, oil is the next best choice. Finally, electric furnaces are the cheapest to buy and install, but they do not heat large homes very well and will cost the most to operate in electric bills.
The AFUE represents the annual heat output of the furnace compared to the total annual energy consumed. AFUE does not include any heat lost through the duct system. The most efficient furnace is an electric one. Despite the high-efficiency level, electricity is more expensive, making electric furnaces the most expensive to run.
Installing a properly sized furnace is the key to heating your home. If your furnace is too small, it will not heat your entire home.
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