When considering a new furnace, efficiency should be one of your most important concerns. After all, the efficiency of your furnace will largely determine your utility bills during winters in Austin for the next 10 to 20 years. While gas furnaces continue to increase in efficiency, another option, an electric furnace, has several things going for it. To determine which furnace you’d like to have Faught Service Company install, it’s a good idea to consider the efficiency possibilities of an electric furnace.
Turning Energy Into Heat
When you directly compare the efficiency of an electric furnace versus a gas furnace from Faught Service Company, an electric furnace will win every time. That’s because an electric furnace can turn nearly 100% of the energy it uses directly into heat using its heating elements. A gas furnace, on the other hand, will always be inherently less efficient since some of its heat and energy is lost through the exhaust vent. Therefore, if you’re simply looking for a furnace with excellent efficiency ratings, an electric model is your best choice.
Cost of Energy
Although an electric furnace is more efficient in theory than a gas furnace, an electric unit faces one major drawback: the cost of energy. In Austin, the cost of natural gas is far lower than the cost of electricity. This means that even though you’re wasting a certain amount of the natural gas that’s piped into your home, your utility bill is still likely to be much lower if you utilize a gas furnace.
Heating Efficiency
There’s a reason why professional chefs prefer gas stoves over electric ones; a gas stove can get much hotter than its electric counterpart. The same is true of gas versus electric furnaces. The flame that a gas furnace produces is far hotter than the electric coils in an electric furnace. Therefore, the air that the furnace disperses throughout your house is warmer, allowing your residence to heat up more quickly. Even while losing energy, a gas furnace tends to be a more economical choice in terms of total energy used.
Consider Lifespan
When considering the cost of owning a particular furnace, it’s important to consider the lifespan of that furnace. Given the intense heat that’s produced by a gas furnace, many models tend to only last for 10 to 20 years. On the other hand, the simple design and lower temperatures of an electric furnace award it a lifespan of up to 30 years.
Therefore, even though you’ll be paying more for the energy to fuel your furnace, the cost of that unit will likely be spread over many more years than you’d get from a gas model. When you also consider that the cost of a new electric furnace from Faught Service Company tends to be far lower than a new gas unit, the total cost of ownership of these two types of furnaces begins to even up.
A Change in Category
Although traditional electric furnaces aren’t known for their overall efficiency, newer furnaces from Faught Service Company, which are known as ground-source heat pumps, take the efficiency game to a whole new level. Rather than creating heat from the electricity that’s supplied to them, a ground-source heat pump uses electricity to run a compressor that transfers heat from the outside air into a refrigerant that’s then pumped into your home.
Since the electricity is only being used for mechanical purposes in this setup, a ground-source heat pump is exceptionally efficient. In a warmer climate like Austin’s, a ground-source heat pump can save you a considerable amount of money on your winter utility bills.
Different Efficiencies Available
Even if you opt for a traditional electric furnace, there are plenty of different efficiency ratings available. The more that you’re willing to spend upfront, the greater the efficiency gains you can expect to see. Therefore, while a gas furnace will always be able to produce warmer air than an electric furnace, these more expensive electric heaters help to close the efficiency gap in other ways. As a consumer, this is all good news because it means you have plenty of great options when it’s time to pick out a new furnace.
Installing Furnaces of All Types
No matter which type of furnace you choose, the professionals at Faught Service Company stand ready to install it correctly so you can enjoy many years of trouble-free operation. In addition to furnace installation, we can take on furnace repairs and maintenance, plus repairs, maintenance, and installation for air conditioners. With more than 40 years of experience in the HVAC industry, it’s easy to see why we maintain accreditation from the Better Business Bureau and consistently receive five-star customer reviews. For more information on which type of furnace is best for your property, contact Faught Service Company today.
