When it comes to furnace replacement, size matters. In other words, the efficiency of your new furnace depends on it being the correct size for your home. Finding the correct size furnace is one of the major challenges of selecting a new furnace, since it involves taking stock of the following factors:
- The overall area of your home
- The type and amount of insulation used
- Type of fuel used for the furnace
- Amount of air infiltration into the home
The Importance Of Furnace Sizing
There are plenty of drawbacks to buying an oversized or undersized furnace:
- An oversized unit will spend most of its time cycling on and off excessively, since it manages to fulfill its heating demands in an extremely short span of time. This results in wasted heat being sent up through the flue, as well as excessive wear and tear on the furnace blower and other parts.
- An undersized unit won’t be able to meet the homeowner’s heating demands, especially during extremely cold weather. As a result, these units will run constantly in an attempt to meet that demand while wasting energy in the process.
The best way to find the correct size for your furnace replacement is to calculate how many British thermal units per hour (Btu/h) it takes to heat the home. A professional HVAC specialist can perform these calculations for you and provide you with an estimate of how many Btu/h is necessary to heat your home.
AFUE Ratings
Once you have your home’s ideal furnace size, you can focus on purchasing the most efficient furnace replacement using the annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) ratings. These ratings are included on the Energy Guide labels that are required on all new furnaces. The most efficient furnaces boast an AFUE rating of 95 percent.
If you need further assistance in selecting the right furnace replacement for your homes needs, contact the professionals at Paschal Heat, Air & Geothermal. For more than 40 years, we’ve provided our customers in the northwest Arkansas region with the best service and customer care possible.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about furnace replacement and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Paschal Heating, Air & Geothermal services Northwest Arkansas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!
479.900.0784
