5 Tips for Choosing the Best Electric Furnace for Your Home
If your energy bills are skyrocketing or your home doesn’t heat up as quickly as it used to, it may be time to consider updating your heating system. Entek specializes in providing the right heating solutions for homeowners like you. Our high-efficiency furnaces reduce energy use while increasing indoor comfort. We offer both mobile home gas and electric furnace models. If you don’t have access to natural gas, then an electric furnace model may be the better option for you. If that’s the case, here are five tips for finding the best electric furnace for your home.
Select an Energy-Efficient Model
If you’re choosing to invest in an electric furnace, the first thing you’ll want to do is look for an energy-efficient model. That’s because heating costs account for nearly half of the average American family’s energy bills. When you upgrade to an energy-efficient model, you’re able to cut costs and stop throwing money out the window.
Newer furnaces on the market today use 30 percent less fuel and energy than older furnaces. If you haven’t updated your furnace in quite some time, then it’s a good idea to consider an upgrade. In addition to the cost savings, newer furnaces are far quieter and less disruptive than outdated models. They also have many other benefits, including maintaining the temperature of your home at a more consistent level.
Entek offers affordable, high-efficiency Carrier electric furnace models that will help you cut your energy costs. Furnaces and boilers are assigned an efficiency rating known as an AFUE, annual fuel utilization efficiency. The higher the rating, the more energy efficient the home heating system. Electric furnaces have an AFUE rating typically in the range of 95 to 100 percent.
Purchase the Right Unit
If you’re in the market for an electric furnace, there are a few things to look out for when you’re shopping around. First, you want to be sure that the furnace you select has the ENERGY STAR® label. This label indicates that the product will help you save money on energy bills while also helping protect the environment.
It’s also important when deciding on the brand of electric furnace to buy to compare warranties. You’ll want to select a reliable unit that’s guaranteed to be a worthwhile investment. Be sure to also check out some reviews for any of the brands you are considering. This will help you understand the type of experience other consumers have had with a particular unit and can be useful in helping you narrow your search so that you find the best possible electric furnace for your home.
Select the Proper Size
We can’t stress this enough. It’s so important to purchase a unit that’s been properly sized for your home and to also have it professionally installed. If you select the incorrect unit size, your furnace will not operate at maximum efficiency.
So how exactly do you determine the right size furnace for your home? First, you’ll want to determine the geographic climate zone for your home. This map is a good place to start. For instance, if you live in Washington or Oregon, you’re located in either Zone 3, 4, or 5. For the purpose of this example, we’ll use Zone 4 for our calculations.
Those living in Zone 4 have a BTU (British thermal unit) range of 45 to 50. Once you’ve determined your zone range, the next step is to select the right number within that range. If your home is well insulated, you’re going to select a number in the lower range. If your home is poorly insulated, you’ll want to choose one of the higher numbers. We’ll select BTU 45 for our example.
Next, you’ll want to determine the square footage of your home and multiply that by your BTU number. For example, if you have a 2,000-square-foot home, then you would multiply 2,000 by 45 to come up with 90,000. This is the number of BTUs required to heat your home, so you’ll want to select an electric furnace capable of this output.
Choose the Right Accessories
Once you’ve found the best electric furnace for your home, you’ll want to decide on accessories. One accessory we highly recommend is a programmable thermostat. Programmable thermostats detect the temperature of your home and adjust it accordingly to match your custom settings. This can help you maintain a consistent temperature throughout your house, as well as help you cut down on your energy costs.
For instance, if you spend nine hours away from home each weekday, your programmable thermostat can turn down your heat just after you leave for the day and turn it back on just before you arrive home. That way, you’ll come home to the perfect temperature without having to run your heating unit at maximum all day long. This helps you not only save money, but also be more eco-friendly.
Consider Zone Heating
Another feature we like is zone heating. The temperature of a room can vary for a variety of reasons. For instance, the number of windows in a particular room can affect the room’s temperature. If the room gets a good amount of sunlight, it’s going to heat up more quickly than a room that doesn’t get any natural light at all.
Zone heating helps maintain a consistent temperature throughout your house by allowing you to control the temperature of each room individually, increasing overall comfort and decreasing energy costs. If this is something you’d like to add to your home, your Entek service technician will install zone dampers in your home’s ductwork. The unit control panel will then regulate the temperature of each room by opening and closing the dampers according to each zone’s custom thermostat reading.
Does this sound like something you would be interested in? Need help determining the right size of electric furnace for your home? Want to learn more about your options? Entek is here to help. Schedule an appointment with one of our HVAC specialists. We’ll explain everything you need to know to find the best electric furnace for your home.
