Warm Up To Winter

Here’s how to help your furnace keep you cozy all winter long.

by: Greg Cook

Airserv Heating and Air Conditioning

Smart Shopper’s Guide to Heaters and Furnaces
Most homes today are heated with a forced-air furnace, heat pump or boiler. The most appropriate type depends typically on the climate and available fuel. In the Northeast, furnaces in many older homes are fueled by oil and operate with a boiler and radiators.

Natural gas forced-air is more commonly used in cold climates in other parts of the country. Where the weather does not get as cold, electric heat pumps are an efficient
alternative. Here’s an overview:

Forced-air furnaces (also called heaters) operate by blowing air across a heating source. They can be fueled by natural gas, electricity or oil. Where available, gas is most popular because it’s relatively economical. Furnaces that use electricity to heat a coil are most expensive to operate and so are usually used only where gas or oil is not available. Oil forced-air furnaces require fuel deliveries by truck to a tank on the owner’s property.

Heat pumps have an outdoor unit that looks like an air conditioner, and in fact,
operates like an air conditioner when in the cooling mode. When heat is called for, the heat pump’s coil absorbs heat from outside air and pressurizes the refrigerant, making it hot enough to give off heat as it passes through an indoor coil in a unit called an air handler. The heat is then blown through ducts into the house. A heat pump usually needs a source of backup heat for those times when outside air gets too cold to provide heat by pressurizing the refrigerant. The backup heat source is usually an electric coil. Still, heat pumps can produce as much as three times more heat for the money than an electric furnace, and they are much more efficient now than when they were first introduced.

Geothermal heat pumps draw their heat and cold from water that circulates through a coil buried underground. The relatively constant temperature of the water makes this one of the most efficient systems, but it’s also the most
expensive to install.

Boilers work by heating water and circulating it through pipes to radiators or
baseboard heaters. There are no ducts, so central air conditioning requires a separate system. Older boilers circulated steam. This hot water heating, also called hydronic heating, is quiet and comfortable. When circulated through piping installed beneath ceramic tile or wood, the entire floor surface radiates heat upward from the floor, which many people find heavenly. Electricity, gas or oil can power boilers.

Imagine how you’d feel if your heater or furnace suddenly let you down. That would be inconvenient at best, not to mention worst-case scenarios such as frozen pipes and carbon monoxide poisoning.
“Regular maintenance is the best way to keep your family safe and warm,” says Doyle James, president of Aire Serv® Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc. All it takes to put your mind at ease is prevention. “We encourage homeowners to take the necessary steps to prevent heater problems.”

Maintenance matters
Following these simple steps will keep your heating system running efficiently all winter long:
• Check filters monthly and replace (or flush washable filters with water) as needed.
• Ask for a regular inspection of seams in ductwork, sealing with duct tape, if necessary.
• Clean air ducts of dust every five years.
• Have a professional technician tune up your
unit annually.
Unless your heating and cooling system is at or past its normal life expectancy (typically about 15 years), an annual tune-up and regular attention to the furnace filter should keep things running smoothly. A dirty filter not only reduces the efficiency of your furnace, but restricted airflow also puts stress on the heat exchanger. If a crack develops in the heat exchanger, exhaust gases containing carbon monoxide can enter the home.
Another prudent practice that can help keep you and your family safe is to ask your furnace professional to check for possible obstructions in the furnace chimney. When your furnace goes unused during the summer months, birds sometimes build nests in the chimney. This can cause exhaust gases to back up into the home when you turn your furnace on in the fall or winter during the annual tune-up.
If your furnace is older than 15 years, worn out, inefficient or significantly oversized, it makes sense to start shopping around for new equipment. Winter is a good time to look for off-season system replacement specials so you may be able to get an especially good deal on a new furnace and air conditioner (they are usually replaced at the same time).

Dodge the draft
For the sake of comfort, air quality and efficiency, make sure your house is properly insulated and tightly sealed. A home energy audit will help you determine the appropriate level of insulation and identify sources of air infiltration that cause uncomfortable drafts and allow allergens into your home. See, “Cost Cutting Online,” page 27, for more details. Here are some other things you can do:
• Seal doors and windows with weather stripping and caulk. Silicone is recommended for outside use because it lasts longer against the elements and will adhere to any surface, but opt for acrylic indoors.
• Install foam gaskets behind all outlet covers and switch plates, especially those on an outside wall.
• Plug openings for outside water faucets, dryer vents and gas pipes with a foam weatherizing product.
Is it possible to seal a home too tightly? G. Andrew Smith, owner of Aire Serv® of Southeast Texas, says, “You need a certain amount of fresh air in your home, but you don’t want it coming from places like your attic or crawl space. Ask your heating professional to test your home with the Air Advice Monitor. This will allow you to make an informed decision on the need for whole-house air filtration.”

Essentials

New Technology Could Save You Money
If you’re currently spending $175 a month or more to heat and cool your home, you could save $480 a year just by installing an Energy Star®-qualified system.

“Today’s furnaces have variable-speed blowers,” says G. Andrew Smith, owner of Aire Serv® of Southeast Texas. “They move the air at different speeds depending on heating and cooling needs. This saves money and makes the home more comfortable.” Improvements in technology have made furnaces more efficient, and standardized ratings make it easy to compare efficiencies in operation with the cost to purchase new equipment. Take both factors into account when making purchasing decisions.

Proper sizing is also crucial. Your professional contractor will take into account heat loss and gain as well as square footage to arrive at a design-load calculation. Undersized units can fail prematurely; oversized equipment can be noisy and reduce your comfort. It could be that if you seal and insulate your home first, you may need less capacity than before, which could save you money.