The short answer to the question above is that it depends on what kind of heater that you are talking about. Don’t worry, though. We’ll dig into the subject a bit further below.
When you invest in a new heating system, it is important that you keep energy efficiency in mind. You don’t want to be paying more than you should have to in order to keep your home warm, especially when there are so many high-efficiency heating options waiting for you.
Boilers and Furnaces
If you are shopping around for a new boiler or a furnace, then you are going to want to look at the AFUE. This stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. The AFUE represents the average efficiency of the heating system over the course of an entire heating season. If, for instance, a furnace is rated 90% AFUE, then it is putting out 90 BTUs of heat for every 100 BTUs of fuel input. 10% of the potential is lost via vented gasses.
Basically, the higher the AFUE, the more efficient the system is going to be. There is definitely a correlation between the price of a heating system and its overall efficiency rating. We understand that homeowners may be tempted to shop for a bargain at the time of purchasing a new heating system. However, that investment in efficiency will pay off in the long run in the form of energy savings.
What About Heat Pumps?
If you’ve poked around this blog before, then you know that we are big advocates for heat pumps around here. The Pacific Northwest is an ideal climate zone for the use of heat pumps, which use existing heat in the air outside when heating a home. This unique method of heating also means that heat pumps have their own unique heating efficiency rating.
If you’re looking at heat pumps, you’ll be looking at the HSPF. This is the Heating Season Performance Factor. Again, the higher the HSPF, the more efficient the heat pump is. It’s a measure of the BTU heat output over the course of the season as compared to the watt-hours of electricity consumed.
If you have any questions about available heating systems in Snohomish, WA, give G & S Heating Cooling & Electric a call today!
