Buyer’s Guide For Furnaces In Pawtucket

by | Jan 21, 2012 | Home And Garden

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Heating furnaces in Pawtucket are used for almost half the year if not more. This makes it very important to have a quality heating furnace that saves energy and cost. There are many factors to be considered while looking for furnaces in Pawtucket as each type has its own advantages and disadvantages.

You need to consider the types of furnaces that are available and suitable for your area depending upon the fuel prices and availability. Furnace ratings are important to ensure that you are getting the maximum efficiency from the unit. Other factors to be considered are cost, ease of installation and maintenance requirements.

Types of furnaces in Pawtucket

A qualified heating contractor can advise you about the furnace type that is ideal for your home. This advice and estimate should be at no cost. Various options available for furnaces in Pawtucket are:

Gas & Oil Furnace use natural gas or oil for fuel. These are the most common types used for residential heating. Heat Pumps are generally used for milder climates and can perform both heating and cooling function. Electric Heaters have the most common type as the baseboard heater. The unit uses electricity and heating elements to warm the air.

Radiant Heating involves cables or heated water in pipes placed over a bare floor. This is a good choice for supplemental heating. Corn Furnaces use corn as energy source. They are safe, clean and easy to use. Portable Heaters are used to heat small spaces and use oil or electricity as the fuel.

Understand the ratings of furnaces in Pawtucket

Furnaces are rated using the AFUE (Annualized Fuel Utilization Efficiency) measurement. This measures the amount of energy in percentage that is used to heat your home. A furnace rating of 50% AFUE would mean that 50% of the heat generated by your furnace is being used to heat you home while the other 50% is being wasted.

The AFUE rating depends upon the type of the furnace. An electric furnace has an average range of efficiency as 100%, a super efficient gas or oil furnace can have the efficiency of 85-95% while an older oil or gas furnace can have efficiency as low as 60-75%

If your furnace has a low AFUE rating, it is time to replace it with a higher efficient furnace. If you are looking for new furnaces in Pawtucket, look for the units with the efficiency close to 80-95%. These units will have higher upfront cost but will save you more on the fuel consumption over the years.

Calculate payback on your purchase of furnaces in Pawtucket

Higher efficiency units while costlier upfront will lower your monthly utility bills. To calculate the paybacks on your purchase use the following: Annual savings expected: (annual heating bill) x (efficiency of old unit/ efficiency of the new unit). Payback in years: (Extra cost in $ of the new unit)/ Annual savings (from above)

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