If your old furnace is laboring through its last winter, you may be planning to replace it this spring. Or you may be in the unfortunate position of having to replace a failing furnace immediately, before our freezing cold Boston, MA winter turns your home into a popsicle. Either way, there’s a common pitfall in buying a new furnace that you need to be aware of: a system with too much heating power for your home.
It sounds absurd. Why wouldn’t you want a new furnace to be as powerful as your budget allows? In point of fact, however, and overpowered furnace can be even more damaging than an underpowered one. They engage in a phenomenon known as short cycling: turning on and warming the house up very rapidly, shutting off, and then turning on again a few minutes later as the air cools. It might not sound l
It might not sound like much, but it’s actually very damaging. Key components in the furnace such as the fan motor use much more energy starting up and turning off than they do simply running. Short cycling thus forces the heater to use much more energy than it should keeping your house warm, as well as increasing strain on the system and elevating the chances of a breakdown considerably.
The solution is to ensure that your technician performs a proper energy audit of your home before installing the new furnace. (An older furnace can give you a basic idea of the power levels required, but new developments such as the addition of double-paned windows or even just weatherstripping your doors can make a difference.) With those details in place, you can then purchase a furnace that is neither too large nor too small but just right.
For top-notch furnace installation services, call Cooling Unlimited today!
