Which Furnace is Best for You?

With the cold season necessitating an effective way to keep your house warm, you need to decide which heating system is right for you. Heating options range from gas furnaces, electric furnaces, wood furnaces, and coal furnaces. The wide variety of options available can confound some homeowners, and in truth, no one heating solution fits all situations. Factors such as availability of fuel, state building regulations, climate, budget, and lifestyle all play a role in deciding which heating solution suits you best. Let's take a look at the available heating options and along with some of their pros and cons.

Wood Furnace

Wood furnaces warm up your house using heat generated from burning wood. You can install a wood furnace in a pre-existing wall fireplace or as a standalone woodstove. Both options require a vent to disperse the gases released from burning the wood. While it is possible to retrofit a venting system on an already existing house, it is a much more expensive and complicated process than installing one in a new home where it is part of the construction plan from the beginning. Additionally, fuel costs vary depending on availability. If your home is located in a well-wooded area, the location provides a clear advantage to owning a wood furnace. You should also note that not just any wood is suitable for use in a wood furnace. Some types of trees burn with a lot of soot that is both unhealthy for you and prone to clogging the venting system. Maple and oak are the preferred wood types because they burn hot and clean with minimal soot production. One disadvantage of wood furnaces is that they will inevitably produce some soot and smoke. Excessive smoke production from using the wrong wood or not cleaning the chimney correctly can cling to your clothes and hair and be a very uncomfortable experience.

Gas Furnace

Gas furnaces consume either propane or liquid gas as a fuel. They are available as free standing or wall-mounted furnaces that are inexpensive to install in your home. Areas without access to natural gas use propane furnaces. Typically the propane tank is installed at a close but safe distance from the home in an underground or above ground tank. Natural gas furnaces are popular options where the gas infrastructure is already in place. Gas furnaces exist in two broad categories vented and vent-less. Vented gas furnaces require an outlet for the gases produced during combustion. When a furnace burns gas, it produces heat, water vapor, and carbon monoxide. As long as the combustion has more than sufficient air the amount of carbon monoxide produced is very minimal. However, because gas furnaces are operated inside your home, situations may arise where the combustion is operating in a depleted oxygen environment this leads to an excessive amount of carbon monoxide production. Vented gas furnaces ensure that carbon monoxide levels are low by venting it outside your home. Vent-less gas furnaces do not require a vent because they have safeguards in place that ensure they never operate in an oxygen-depleted environment. They do this through the use of oxygen depletion sensors that regulate how much fuel the gas furnace burns and also through highly efficient combustion which leads to the release of minimal amounts of carbon monoxide. Gas furnaces have become even more energy efficient with the introduction of variable-speed furnaces. These furnaces contain a fan motor that can be set to run at precise speeds and control the flow of heated or cooled air. Precision control of airflow ensures that air circulation is optimized for temperature and humidity control while consuming less gas fuel. Gas furnaces are definitely more energy efficient than coal and wood furnaces.

Coal Furnace

These furnaces generate heat by burning coal and are available as free standing or wall mounted units. The cost of operating a coal furnace is dependent on your access to coal. The closer you are to a coal mine, the fewer transportation costs and coal is therefore cheaper. In terms of maintenance, you must clear ash out of the combustion chamber and clean the vent system regularly to prevent clogging. It is important to select the right size of furnace to prevent oxygen depletion issues and also to vent a coal burning furnace to disperse any toxic fumes. If you have questions about which kind of furnace is best for you, your home, and your needs, please contact our friendly and professional staff who can answer your questions and help you make an informed decision.