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Upgrade Furnace or Boiler
If it’s time to upgrade your furnace or boiler, consider a highly efficient electric heat pump heating system. This is the best option for both low-cost energy and lowering your impact. However, if that’s not an option, consider a new high-efficiency furnace or boiler.
Your Impact
1500
points
Upfront cost
$3000
4000
Time commitment
Resource savings
90
Therms Natural Gas
Annual savings
$100
Your Action Plan
2
Introduction
If you have an old, inefficient furnace or boiler, you can save a lot of money and energy by upgrading to a new, more efficient model. The best option if you upgrade is to switch to an electric heat pump system. This is the most energy efficient option and will significantly lower your carbon emissions. Check out the Electric Heat Pump Heater action to learn more. However, if this is not an option, an efficient furnace or boiler system would be the best option. Read on to learn more.
1Decide when to upgrade
There are two main reasons to replace your current furnace or boiler—it no longer works or it is old and inefficient enough that the upgrade will significantly lower your energy bills. The first one is pretty straight forward. The second one requires a bit more information to determine if an upgrade is worthwhile.
Furnace ratings. Furnaces and boilers are rated with efficiency ratings called AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency). The AFUE is the percent of the energy from your boiler or furnace that ends up heating your house and is not lost during the heating process (not including losses through the ducts). Take a look at your furnace and determine its AFUE rating—it should be displayed on the unit.
Potential savings. If your current furnace or boiler has a rating of less than 70, take a look at your bill and figure out if replacement makes sense. If you upgrade from an AFUE of 65 to an AFUE of 95, this would be increasing your furnace or boiler efficiency by 30%. This should translate to about a 30% savings on your bill.
If your furnace uses oil or propane and your heating costs are high, you could save up to $500/year in cold climates, less in milder climates. Installation costs for a new furnace or boiler are on average about $3000-$4000. Under this scenario, you would recoup the savings in 6-8 years. If your AFUE gain is lower, then your savings would be less from an upgrade and it would be better to wait until your furnace or boiler stops working.
Electric heating. If your current system is electric, you can save 60% or more by switching to an electric heat pump system.
Efficiency first. Before you upgrade your home heating system consider energy efficiency upgrades! This will lower the amount of energy you need to heat your home. This is important because when you buy a new system, you need to decide the size of the system that is right for your house. The size will depend on how much energy you need. If you buy a system that is too big, it will cost extra to operate and extra money to purchase in the first place. So if you were considering insulating your attic or weatherizing your home, do it before you buy a new heating system! You will lower your energy bills and save money on your new furnace or boiler system.
Learn more. Before choosing a new system, learn a bit about how your system works and the important factors to know so you can make a good decision. You can also learn about the basics of home heating with this great infographic from Energy.gov.
2Choose and install your new system
The best way to choose a new system is to work with a professional installer. A few things that should be considered:
Energy Star. First, make sure it is Energy Star rated.
Sealed combustion. Second, look for a sealed combustion furnace or boiler. This removes the need for a draft hood or damper and is more efficient.
Choose an experienced contractor to do the work and check references and quotes before you choose. Finally, once you have installed your new system, make sure to maintain it for maximum efficiency, energy savings, and comfort!
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