Should You Repair or Replace your Furnace or Heating System?
Before you decide to repair or replace your furnace think about:
The age of your furnace
A typical furnace or heating system will usually last about 15 years. If your system is older than 15 years and needs repaired it may be time to replace it rather than fight a losing battle.
The cost of a furnace repair
If you will need to spend more than $500-750 dollars to repair the system you will likely be better off replacing it. Any savings of repairing versus replacement will likely be wiped out after just a year or two of heating cost savings from a more efficient furnace.
Whether you plan to stay in the home
If you plan to stay in the home for several years check on the potential heating bill savings with a more efficient furnace. With fuel prices going up that new system may pay for itself in a relatively short time. If your current furnace is more than 10 years old chances are its efficiency is not much better than half what a new furnace can offer.
Heating and Furnace Efficiency
How to measure a furnace's efficiency?
A furnace is rated for efficiency using an AFUE (Annualized Fuel Utilization Efficiency) measurement. Essentially the AFUE number is a percentage which relates to the amount of energy that is used to heat your home. In other words - how much heat do you get to enjoy versus heat that escapes out of a chimney or vent pipe.
A 15-20 year old furnace can have an AFUE score as low as 50%, meaning you are only utilizing 50% of the heat created. Modern furnaces have dramatically better AFUE scores ranging between 80-95%. With the recent price increases in heating fuels (Natural Gas, Oil, etc...) this can mean dramatic savings over the course of just a few years. In addition to savings on your heat bill there is a positive effect on the environment Reductions in the amount of carbon dioxide that get released into the air by a new furnace are significant particularly when you consider the life of the furnace will likely be 15 years or more.
Interested in a high efficiency furnace? Request 2-3 competing estimates from local contractors.
Tune Up Your Heating Furnace We are all looking for ways to save money as heating expenses become increasingly high. Below are a list of suggestions that can help reduce the cost of running your furnace during the winter. Look at your: Thermostat • Check to make sure your thermostat is working well and is accurate on the temperature reading. Depending on the age of your thermostat or the placement of the thermostat in the room it may not be accurate. • Install a new programmable thermostat to run your furnace. By doing so you can reduce furnace usage at night time or when people are away for work and school Furnace Filter • Inspect your filter(s) and change or clean as necessary. A dirty or plugged filter can significantly reduce the amount of air movement in the house making your furnace less efficient. Furnace Motor • Make sure any belts on the furnace motor are in good shape. Be sure to have an extra on hand in case of breakage and replace them on a regular basis to avoid a break. • Make sure the motor is properly oiled according to your owners manual. Ductwork • Check to make sure there is nothing blocking air flow in your ducts and vents. A couch, kids toys, etc. placed over a vent will reduce the effectiveness of your airflow and your furnace. • Have your heating and cooling ducts cleaned at least yearly to increase efficiency. This helps reduce your heating bill and is good for your air quality as well. If typical maintenance does not seem to help your heating system run as well as you feel it should it may be time to look at getting it repaired or replaced.
Double Cold Air Return Installation
Cold air return is one of the most important parts of the finished basement project. The main goal of the cold air return installation is to make air circulation. In the winter time it will remove cool air off the floor and help replace it with warm air from the supply registers, in the summer time it will remove moisture and create a healthy environment. Double cold air returns are necessary to use in large basements or in basements with a big open space. If basement has bedrooms it would be a good idea to have a cold air return for each room, otherwise one double cold air return would be more than enough. Of course, if you have a zoning system where one zone works only for the basement you might need more returns, but in the basement it’s always a good idea to have less cold air returns than supplies! If you found your way to this page I can assume that most likely you are interested in the double cold air return installation. Some of the visitors of my website already purchased an access to the paid page and I’m not surprised why. Recently I've spent more than an hour looking for DIY information on how to install a cold air return in general and a double return in particular, but didn’t find anything! I dug through hundreds of websites and found out that only my website can give you a comprehensive step-by-step explanation with pictures of installation, tools and materials! Installation on the paid page might not exactly describe your upcoming project. However, it will give you an important example of how this type of installation should be done. In addition, it will open the gates for as many questions as necessary to make sure that the job is done right.
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Installation
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Finished Basement Edition is a new book designed just for you! In this book you can find answers to your most frequently asked questions about ductwork installation in basement and more. For more information please visit “Finished Basement Edition” page.