What to Look for When Buying a Furnace

Your furnace is central to your home, and the main thing those of us in the Denver area turn to in order to stay comfortable in our homes. But buying a furnace can be more complex than buying other appliances for your home. It’s not something you want to skimp on, and the price impact goes far beyond the cost of the actual equipment and installation costs. The right furnace for your home will run efficiently, and save you money on your monthly bills for years to come.

Here are some things to look for:

The Size of the Furnace

One mistake that some people make when buying a furnace is thinking that a bigger unit is going to better, but this isn’t necessarily the case. Like a shoe or a glove, a furnace needs to fit — only determining if a furnace is the right size is a bit more complicated. It requires that an HVAC contractor does a load calculation of your home, factoring in variables including the size of your house, the insulation in your walls and roof, as well as quality and size of your home’s windows.

The goal is to have a furnace that will keep running for a long period of time, rather than stopping and restarting frequently. If your furnace is turning on and off a lot, it could be a sign that the furnace is too big. If your HVAC contractor does not mention running a load calculation, you should. Some contractors might try and follow the lead of whoever put the existing furnace in your home and assume it is the right size. But any updates you’ve made to your windows or insulation might affect the original calculation, or perhaps a load calculation was not done at all. A qualified professional HVAC contractor will have the tools available to do this without much trouble.

Know Your Furnace’s Fuel Efficiency

Aside from sizing your furnace properly, another way to look at your furnace efficiency is to look at its Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating, which is expressed in a percentage. The higher the percentage, the more efficient the furnace will be. Highly efficient furnaces carry a higher initial cost. In time, the extra money spent on a high efficiency furnace will be regained through lower bills, but how much time it takes to make up for that investment can vary depending on the climate in your area and how long you plan to live in your home.

Finding a Good Contractor and Brand

When it comes to something that is going to be central to your home, a good reputation matters. Even if you’re not into “keeping up with the Jones'” it doesn’t hurt to know a little about what they think. Purchase a furnace brand that has models with high AFUE ratings as well as a high customer satisfaction ratings.  Rheem has both and is a brand we highly recommend.

All manufacturers make models with similar features.  The contractor that installs the furnace really matters and can have a major impact on how well the system performs.  While you can and should do some basic research on the furnace’s features, your contractor should be able to give you more details when you ask without trying to oversell you on something you don’t want or need.

Once you’re ready to make an informed decision on a new furnace, contact Indoor Air Quality, Inc. We have over 40 years of experience, and continually educate ourselves about the latest in HVAC in order to pass that knowledge on to our customers. The confidence in our ability comes through in our 5 Year Parts and Labor Warranty on the furnaces we install.