What to Consider Before Scheduling a Heater Installation

Say you saw our last post and decided it was time to upgrade your old heating system, but you don’t know how to look for a system that’s right for you and your home. There are definitely a lof of things to consider, so here are a couple of the most important things to look out for when you’re upgrading your heating system.

System Size

Find out what size unit is best suited for your home’s needs; anything more or less could compromise the success of your system. Here are some common problems that can result from your system being the wrong size for your home.

• Short Cycling - This is when your heating system turns on, quickly heats up your home, then shuts off. When your home cools down again, your system will flick back on for a short time to get your home heated up again, then turns back off in no time. The short on-off cycle greatly reduces your systems efficiency and causes unnecessarily high amounts of wear.
• Uneven Heating - If your heating system is the wrong size your home may be overly heated in some places, and too cold in others.
• Reduced Efficiency - In addition to short cycling reducing your systems efficiency, the size of your ductwork will play a role in your energy efficiency as well. If you home's ducts are too big or too small for your system, then the heater will have to work harder to circulate the air through them.

Efficiency Rating

This can be confusing for homeowners. There are a lot of different efficiency ratings and it can be difficult to work through all the jargon and figure out what it all means. Here are a couple of the more common ones to get you started:

• Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) - The AFUE rating measures how efficient the system turns fuel into usable heat. Some older furnaces have AFUE ratings of 60% which means that approximately 40% of the fuel used is wasted. Modern furnaces have AFUE ratings upward of 95%!
• Heating Seasonal Performance Factor (HSPF) - Typically HSPF ratings are used to measure the efficiency of heat pumps. It's measured by taking the total heat output over a heating season divided by how much energy it used.

If you need help figuring out what size system is best for you, advice about energy efficiency, a system installation, or any other HVAC questions, give us a call today!