With heating being the average person’s biggest expense, it pays you to have a good heating system.
With temperatures getting colder in southeastern Michigan, lots of people are turning to their heating system to make up the difference, and it’s costing them.
There’s many different types of heating systems and sources. Most Americans use a central furnace to heat their home. And the fuel source for this heat is either natural gas or electricity for 88% of American homes.
And holy smokes guys—heat isn’t cheap: 42% of the average person’s utility costs come from paying the heating bill.
The price of natural or “utility gas” has only gotten more expensive over the years for Metro Detroit. Check out these statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that show how prices have steadily crept up since 2015. Notice how the light blue bar that represents the Detroit area, including Warren and Dearborn, is rising each year:
We can get some small consolation in knowing that despite these increases, Detroit’s prices are still about 17% lower than the national average.
Because natural gas is a huge chunk of our utility costs and is only getting more expensive, we have to find a way to use natural gas and other heating sources more efficiently. A great solution is upgrading or integrating a new heating system.
Installing a new heating system can not only benefit your pocketbook, but helps the environment too. According to the Department of Energy, upgrading a furnace or boiler from 56% to 90% efficiency when your house is located in a cold climate saves 1.5 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year.
But until our furnace goes kaput in the dead of winter, most homeowners don’t give much thought to the central furnace keeping them cozy. If you come from a wintery state like my own, you know how important it is to have that heater running.
Now, I am not a heating technician. But when selling houses, I can’t help but come across a lot of homes with furnaces in need of upgrade or repair. I’ve spoken to buyers and sellers about their heating systems and nobody—I repeat—nobody wants an unreliable heating system. However, few people pay attention to their furnace until it’s an emergency.
So I’m going to cover the basics of heating systems, how to save money running them, and give you some tips that could help detect problems before a crisis occurs. Having a bit more knowledge about heating systems should also give you more confidence when it comes to selling your house in the future.
That mysterious aluminum box that goes bump in the night is your central furnace. Your central furnace heats air. Instead of a central furnace, you may have a boiler. A boiler heats water.
Whether you’re producing heated water or heated air, each system has its own way of delivering it throughout your house. A furnace blows the heated air through a network of ducts that distribute the air to each room in the house. Air is pushed by fans through the ducts.
A boiler uses a pump to send hot water through pipes. As the heated water wends its way through the pipes, it passes through things like radiators and baseboards that allow the heat to reach the air of the room.
As you know, you control the amount of heat by dialing your thermostat up or down. The thermostat allows you to set your furnace’s heating control system.
The good thing is that since the days of the fireplace, heating systems are always improving. So it’s a good idea to understand the new heating technologies that are out there that improve your furnace or boiler’s efficiency. An efficient heating system will save you money in the long run, and give you confidence that the system is sound should you sell your house.
Improving your heating system happens in two ways: First, you can make modifications to your existing system. Second, you can upgrade to a completely new system entirely. We’ll talk about the reasons to do each.
First, you can improve your heating system with an upgrade or retrofit. Retrofits are fuel specific. For a gas furnace or boiler, vent dampers can be added to prevent the loss of excess heat. To save on fuel costs, an intermittent ignition device can be installed so that your pilot light isn’t always on and wasting fuel. A pilot light is a flame found on older gas furnaces and ignites the gas used to produce heat. Installing a Derating Gas Burner can allow your furnace to operate more efficiently.
You also need to make sure your heating system is sealed and airtight. Locate and seal any holes or openings warm air could escape. Check your duct network for cracks and gaps. Make sure all duct sections fit nicely together and are free of damage. Seal those connecting sections with screws or metal-backed tape to prevent air leakage. Adding insulation around the ducts can help hold in heat. And make sure they are clear of debris.
Another helpful addition that saves on heat is installing a smart thermostat. Smart thermostats are great because they let you remotely control your home’s temperature through your cell phone. You can also program a smart thermostat to lower the heat when you’re at the office and raise it right before you and your family return home—conserving heat and saving you money.
But in the long-run, sometimes the most efficient and cost-effective way to a great heating system is to get a new system entirely. You can get large savings in heating costs by spending a little money up front for a modern system.
When purchasing and installing a new heating system, you’ll want to get the advice of a professional heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) technician. Yet that doesn’t relieve you from understanding what your technician will be considering.
First, your HVAC technician will check the square footage of your place to make sure he or she recommends the right sized system. This is important—a system too large will be costly. A system too small won’t be enough to heat your house. It’d be like trying to heat Antarctica with a set of matches (of course, such a feat is getting easier by the day).
To avoid this doomsday scenario, your HVAC technician is going to consider not just the square footage, but the climate where you live. If you live in Michigan like me (hint: it can get cold), your technician will account for this. They’ll also take a look at your home and how well it’s insulated.
There’s a key measure that you need to be aware of that tells you how efficient a heating system actually is. Whoever is helping you pick out a new furnace or boiler should be all over this. Obviously, if you’re picking out a new heating system and spending money to do it, you’ll want to make sure it’s as efficient as possible.
The good news is—it’s easy to find out how efficient a furnace or boiler is. Because every company who makes them is required to stick a label on showing a number indicating the system’s annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE). The AFUE is simply a percentage showing how much fuel is actually turned into heat.
On the flip side, you’ll also know how much fuel escapes up the chimney as wasted heat. For example, a system with an AFUE of 80% means 80% of the fuel the system uses is turned into heat and 20% of the fuel is wasted.
A super-efficient system might have an AFUE of 95% with a mere 5% of the fuel being thrown off as waste heat. In fact, electric furnaces can have AFUE’s of up to 100% (Unfortunately, the high-cost of electricity in many parts of the country erases these savings). An old, crappy system might have an AFUE of 70% with 30% waste—talk about money vanishing into thin air.
Bottom-line: A high-efficiency heating system typically has these three characteristics: 1) 90% to 98.5% AFUE, 2) sealed combustion, and 3) a second heat exchanger for extra efficiency.
That old furnace or boiler you have may be costing you money. Getting a retrofit or new heating system entirely can save you money over the long haul. We saw how much waste heat can be thrown off from those old systems. Understanding that your heating system’s efficiency can easily be determined by looking at the AFUE label is important when considering whether or not to upgrade. Asking this question to your HVAC technician will help you make sure you end up with a great heating solution.