You’re due for a new heater, but what heater do you pick? It’s time to take a look at your options, and right now, the best ones on the market are electric and gas furnaces. There’s a reason people still use gas furnaces, but we have plenty to say about an electric furnace in Cuyahoga Falls, OH as well. Let’s get into it.
Electric Furnace Pros and Cons
While newer than gas, electric furnaces have been around longer than you might think, and have a lot of the bugs ironed out. This is what you need to know about them.
Pros
- Always Available: Sure, the electricity can go out, but that means everything else is down too. If you have electricity, this furnace is available. The same can’t be said if you have a gas line problem with a gas furnace.
- No Dangerous Gasses: You don’t have to worry about carbon monoxide leaking out of a gas furnace’s heat exchanger because, well, you don’t have one.
- 100% AFUE Rating: AFUE stands for annual fuel utilization efficiency. It’s the standard that we use to determine how efficient a furnace is. Most combustion-based furnaces have anywhere from an 80% AFUE to 95%, but electric has a 100% rating.
Cons
- May Require More Repairs: From experience, we can say that electric furnaces may need to be served more often than gas furnaces. There’s no direct causation we can cite, but it has been observed.
- Can Be Expensive: Running an electric furnace can be more expensive than running a gas-powered furnace. While gas is on the cheaper side, prices of both fuel types can fluctuate, but generally speaking, an electric furnace will be more expensive to run on an ongoing basis.
Combustion Furnace Pros and Cons
While electric furnaces have their ups and downs, gas-powered furnaces have been the go-to in America for a long time, and for good reasons. Let’s outline some of those now.
Pros
- Fast Heating: Electric furnaces are great, but they’re not able to heat your home as quickly as burning gas in a furnace. That’s because when you begin to burn gas, the reaction is immediate–it produces heat. Electric furnaces, while they’ve come a long way, can take a while to heat up.
- Cost-Effective: While it’s not good for your carbon footprint, gas is cheaper to run when you want to heat your home.
- Heats Your Home Quickly: You come in from a frigid day outside and need quick relief. A gas furnace does that for you.
Cons
- Safety Concerns: Carbon monoxide is a very real threat that causes hundreds of fatalities in the United States every single year, and it’s something you really need to consider when you decide on your next furnace.
- Shorter Lifespan: While we mentioned that electric furnaces sometimes incur more service repairs, they’re built to last longer than gas furnaces. Because of soot, combustion, and gasses, combustion-based furnaces simply don’t last as long as their electric counterparts.
What Do You Pick?
Start with a priority list. Is cost at the top of your list, or is it about safety? Are you trying to get away from a gas furnace because you don’t like the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning? Or is electric desirable because it lasts longer?
There’s a lot to consider, but we hope we’ve helped to highlight the pros and cons that you really need to consider during this entire process.
We’re Here to Help
If you’re not sure what you want to do, we’re here to help you make the jump. Contact us today, whether you want to switch your furnace type, or install a brand new type of the same furnace you already use. We’re here to help.
Contact Crown Group Ohio today to schedule your electric furnace installation as soon as possible.