Still 10% off furnaces – offer ends soon.  Read October and September for details.

Thinking of a new furnace? Here’s what you need to know before buying.

With new furnaces there are three main variables to the cost:

• the efficiency percentage
Old furnaces are 60% to 80% efficient. The high efficiency furnaces are 95%+ efficient because they take more of the heat out of the gas. This cools the gas so much it can be vented with plastic (PVC) pipes out the side of your house.

• the choice of gas valve
With the old, mid efficiency furnace, the gas valve opened 100% until it got warm, and then the blower motor came on. Unfortunately, during this time, all the heat goes up the chimney! Newer furnaces will fire on a low/high or on a modulating gas valve (at 25%), which will save a lot of gas, and therefore money during the heating cycle.

• the type of blower motor.
The new blower motors, which move air around your house, are now variable speed ECM motors. This means they will ramp up and down slowly, providing quiet and efficient air distribution whilst reducing overall utility consumption.