Factors to Consider when Replacing Your Home’s Furnace

It’s finally time to replace the furnace in your Greater Cincinnati home. You know this either because your long-serving furnace has blown its last bit of warm air into your home, or because, just as likely, it just doesn’t seem to be keeping back the cold as well as it used to.

Either way, the best heating companies in Cincinnati will counsel you on whether a repair or replacement makes the most sense. If you decide on the latter, you’ll want to follow these guidelines when it comes to choosing a replacement

What will your next heating system be?

What fuel will you use?

First you’ll need to decide what type of fuel you prefer in your new heating system. The most popular choice is natural gas, though heat pumps are becoming increasingly popular as their technology gets better at handling cold weather extremes.

Your home also might already have the infrastructure for using propane or fuel oil (the large fuel tank and connecting lines). Natural gas fueled furnaces remain a popular choice because of the comfortable heating that gas provides, and the relatively low cost of natural gas in today’s world.

If you have a Cincinnati HVAC contractor whom you can trust, they should provide expert advice on your options.

What capacity does your home need?

Next, you’ll need to determine what capacity furnace or heat pump your home needs. Don’t make the mistake of concluding that bigger is always better. That’s usually not the case.

Over-sizing a residential heating system can have just as many negative consequences as under-sizing a system. Those include

  • wasted energy,
  • stress on parts,
  • noise, and
  • unbalanced heat distribution.

Not surprisingly, the main detriment to under-sizing a heating system is that it will struggle to adequately heat your home.

Ideally, you’ll want your Cincinnati HVAC installation contractor to perform a heating load calculation for your home, using the approved ACCA (Air Conditioning Contractors of America) Manual J protocol.

This process considers multiple factors unique to your home, in addition to its size, number of floors and layout. It also takes into account

  1. energy efficiency (amount of insulation and air leakage),
  2. the size, type and location of windows,
  3. orientation to the sun,
  4. climate and
  5. many other factors.

Once the heating load calculation is complete, your contractor will use that information to recommend the correct size system for your home. If your contractor tries to skip this essential step, it might be a good time to consider a different contractor.

Energy efficiency

Another important decision is the energy-efficiency level of your new heating system. With fuel and electricity costs likely to rise in future years, it’s more important than ever to make a wise choice on energy efficiency.

While you don’t need to select the very highest efficiency level for your new furnace or heat pump, it does make sense to go with a high-efficiency model. While the up-front price is higher than a lower-efficiency heater, your long-term savings on energy costs should more than make up for that higher purchase price.

In the Cincinnati area, with our long, cold winters, you can reap significant monthly savings on heating your home, if you select an energy-efficient furnace or heat pump.

Placement

So where should your new heater go? The best furnace installers in Cincinnati will recommend a spot that’s both efficient and safe, with convenient access to ductwork, vents and fuel lines.

This decision is typically a no-brainer: You install the new furnace or heat pump where the old one went. On rare occasions, though, an expert installer will recommend a change in location, perhaps because of ventilation or other safety concerns.

As part of the installation process in a forced-air furnace or heat pump, the installer should look at the air distribution system in your home that comprises air ducts and vents or registers. They may recommend a change in the ductwork design or placement, or ways to address rooms with no return registers.

Advanced features

Finally, during your Cincinnati furnace installation, your HVAC contractor will ask what advanced features you’d like with your new heating system. These can include

  • whole-house air cleaning and humidity control,
  • multi-stage burners,
  • a variable-speed blower motor, and/or
  • high-tech temperature control.

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For Quality HVAC repair Cincinnati Isn’t a Bad Place to Be

When it comes to a needed HVAC repair Cincinnati offers a lot of choices in contractors, though you don’t want to make the mistake of choosing just any contractor. Your home’s heating and cooling systems are too essential to your family’s comfort, budget and safety to risk on an inexperienced or untrustworthy contractor doing the work. Jansen Heating & Air Conditioning, a family-owned company with decades of experience serving the Queen City, is an example of a company that not only will perform reliable, durable and effective HVAC repair, but will do it at a reasonable cost.