If it's time to replace your furnace, it isn't all bad news: Sealed combustion and other new technology furnaces are safer and more energy efficient than ever before. Some EPA Energy Star compliant furnaces are more than 90 percent AFUE efficient. They have 12 percent better annual fuel utilization efficiency than the national minimum. In English, that means your family will be safer, and you'll break even faster.
Heating systems can be classified as central or local. Central heating systems produce warm air at a single point and distribute it throughout your home. Local heating systems serve smaller spaces, and produce the heat where it is needed.
Geothermal heating systems work by taking advantage of the cooler (or warmer) temperatures underground. Buried pipes cycling refrigerant in a closed loop evacuate heat from your home in summer and carry heat into your home in winter.
Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) are expensive and difficult to install. However, the EPA estimates that a geothermal heat pump can cut your heating energy costs by anywhere from 30 to 70 percent.
Furnaces are typically rated using BTUs or watts/kilowatts, both which express the amount of heat energy can produce in an hour. For instance, one BTU is the amount of heat energy needed to raise one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit at sea level.
Forced-air heating systems are popular because of their fast heat delivery, reliability, versatility, and low installation costs. Often, the same duct system used for heating a home can also be utilized by a cooling system in the summer months.