Furnaces have been around for years and in all that time, technology has advanced. Newer furnaces will have improved efficiency when compared to older models. When you move into an older home, your first question should be what kind of a furnace it has. If you fall in love with a home that has an older furnace, you should definitely look into upgrading your furnace. A new, condensing furnace will help you to achieve higher efficiency levels and lower utility bills than you could get with your old furnace. 

The Problems with a Conventional Furnace

Every furnace will have the same challenge: they burn fuel inside an enclosed area, which creates fumes that can pose a health hazard. Conventional furnaces solve this problem by using a heat exchanger that leaves enough heat in the exhaust gases that they can rise up out of your house through a vent pipe. Unfortunately, this means that potential heat for your home is venting right out of your house. This means that your furnace will never achieve more than around 80% efficiency. Newer furnaces will improve the design to help you achieve greater efficiency. 

How Does a Condensing Furnace Work?

A condensing furnace will have two heat exchangers. The second heat exchanger will extract so much heat from your furnace that the gases in the furnace will condense. At this point the gases will no longer be hot enough to rise up out of your house. Instead, the gases, now in their liquid form, will have to drain out of your house through a drain pipe. Even though you will have to place a condensing furnace near a drain, which means that you might have to do some remodeling in your house. A condensing furnace can help you to achieve up to 98% efficiency, which can help to defray the costs of financing a new furnace. 

If you have a 60% efficient furnace, and you upgrade it to a 98% efficient furnace, your furnace efficiency will improve by 38%. This means that for every $1,000 you spend on heating a home, you will save $380. As long as your financing charges are not more than the amount of money you save, you will still free up money in your budget. An older furnace can rob you. If you want to know if a new furnace is a good choice for you, talk to a furnace installer (such as Ice Age Mechanical) about your options.