When Looking At Heating For Your Home Consider High Efficiency Gas Furnaces

In today's increasingly energy conscious society, one must consider the energy efficiency of every product they purchase. Whether it's your car's gas mileage or how much electricity your refrigerator uses, we've all become more aware of our energy usage.

There are two main reasons for this, and they're pretty obvious. One, inefficient energy use costs more money. It's safe to say we're all looking to lower our bills and switching to energy efficient appliances is a big step in that direction. The other reason to use high efficiency appliances is the understanding that many of our energy sources are finite. In other words, eventually we'll run out.

One of the biggest users of energy in our homes and workplaces are the heating units. Just like most other major household products, gas furnaces have become more efficient than ever before. Natural gas is an economical method for home heating and now you can find all sorts of high efficiency gas furnaces on the market.

High efficiency gas furnaces tend to cost more than conventional gas furnaces. This is for a couple reasons. They're not yet produced on the same scale as conventional furnaces so there are still cost factors to overcome which have to be passed on to the consumer. Secondly, high efficiency gas furnaces employ the latest technologies, which, as we all know, always kicks up the cost of a product. Innovation isn't free. However, keep in mind, that this is just an initial start-up cost. Sure, you may be laying down more money at the outset, but the money you'll save with a high efficiency gas furnace will soon make up the difference and even pay for itself in the end.

Investing in a high efficiency natural gas furnace is well worth it, and let's not forget the environment. An energy efficient furnace will use less fuel, which means using less natural resources, and which means releasing less greenhouse gases into our fragile atmosphere. That's a cost that can't be calculated in dollars.

These days, gas furnaces have stickers on them which gives their AFUE number. AFUE stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. A high efficiency natural gas furnace will have a AFUE number ranging from the high 80's to the high 90's. Furnaces with AFUE's below that range are considered medium efficiency. Such furnaces cost less but will also save you less in bills.

Another thing to look for when shopping for a high efficiency natural gas furnace is an Energy Star sticker. If it has an Energy Star label, that means its AFUE rating is in the 90's.

Remember, no matter how energy efficient your furnace is, you need to maintain it properly and keep it, along with your vents clean. A dirty or poorly maintained furnace will cause a drop in efficiency and increases in cost and fuel consumption.

There is plenty of helpful information available online and from your local furnace dealers. High efficiency natural gas furnaces may cost more at first, but the money you save and the benefit to the environment makes them a wise investment.

Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as electric heaters at http://www.fireplacesandelectricheaters.com

Is a Duct Cleaners Furnace Cleaning the Same as What the Heating Companies Do?

The following article applies to Air Duct Cleaning companies located in the province of Ontario, Canada but may also apply in your area, We suggest you check with your local authorities.

The cleaning that an Air Duct Cleaner can do on your furnace consists of cleaning any accessible components of the furnace that the air moves across, However, these same components must be cleaned while in place and under no circumstances are they to be removed or altered in any way.

Duct Cleaning companies are equipped with many unique proprietary tools that afford them the ability to clean the furnace's conveyance components while they remain in place.

I always make it a point to tell our customers that what we do on their furnace is no substitute for what a licensed Heating and Air conditioning Technician (HVAC Technician) will do on their furnace when it comes to doing an inspection and cleaning.

The law is very clear as to exactly what a Duct Cleaner is aloud to do on the furnace.

Duct cleaners are absolutely prohibited from doing anything in the combustion zone of your furnace, the combustion zone is the area that houses the Burners, Pilot light, Gas valves, Electrical components etc.

Any Duct cleaning technician that is messing around in that area of the furnace without proper certification is in serious violation of the law and will not be covered by their insurance company should anything go wrong.

We all too often hear from customers that tell us that SO & SO Duct Cleaning Company says that they will inspect the furnace as part of their Duct Cleaning.

If a Duct Cleaning company ever makes such a claim to you...I suggest that you stay far away from them, in fact they should be reported to the proper authorities.

The only exception would be if the Duct Cleaning company has a licensed Heating Ventilation and Air conditioning (HVAC) technician on staff who is doing the actual inspection or if they are bringing in a separate company that is HVAC Certified, in which case you would be wise to ask for proof of their qualifications.

Pat Johnson - President of Enviro-Pure Air Care Air Duct and Ventilation Cleaning

Pat has many years experience in the Duct Cleaning Industry and has written numerous articles about Duct Cleaning practices.