• Phone(847) 588-2533
  • Address200 Applebee St Suite 207, Barrington, IL 60010
  • Open Hours24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year
  • Phone(847) 588-2533
  • Address200 Applebee St Suite 207, Barrington, IL 60010
  • Open Hours24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year

High-Efficiency Heating Systems and How You Can Save

siteadmin

There are many good reasons to decide to retire your old residential heating system this fall in preparation for winter:

  • It’s just too old (more than 15 years)
  • It can no longer deliver the heating levels you need
  • It’s breaking down all the time
  • It costs too much to run

We’re going to take a look at that last point, because the advances in high-efficiency heating systems today means you can replace your energy-draining heater for one that works better than your current one ever did when it was new.

The High-Efficiency Furnace

The energy efficiency of a furnace is measured as AFUE (annual fuel utilization efficiency), which is a percentage showing how much of the fuel supply a furnace converts into heating power. For years, furnaces had AFUE ratings ranging from 65% to 85%. Today, you can install furnaces with 95% AFUE or even greater. That can be anywhere from 10–30% less energy waste than before! According to the U.S. ENERGY STAR program, this can mean a savings over the lifetime of a system of 22%. Look over the costs to run your furnace for its life time, and then shave off over a fifth—that’ what you can expect to save with a high-efficiency furnace.

Heat Pumps and Ductless Mini Splits

There are other efficiency options than furnaces. A heat pump, which also works as a cooling system in the summer, uses only a fraction of the energy that other electrical heating systems do. This is because heat pumps use electricity to move heat from one place to another, rather than burn it to generate heat. Ductless mini splits are effective heating systems for homes that don’t have space for ducts. And because they don’t have ducts that lose heat, they perform at remarkably high efficiency.

To find out more about ways to upgrade your heating system and save, contact Brilliant Home Services. We service Lincoln Park, Chicago, and throughout the Chicagoland area.