How to Buy a New Furnace

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Ohio winters can be brutal. That’s why it’s always important to have an efficient heating system. Does your furnace properly heat your home? If not, it’s time to consider buying a new furnace.

As you prepare to make this significant investment into your family’s comfort, here’s what you need to know before you make your purchase:

When Should I Buy a New Furnace?

Timing is everything when you replace your furnace. You don’t want to replace your furnace too early, but you also don’t want to wait too long to buy one and be left without heat after a sudden breakdown.

To help you time your furnace purchase just right, look for these signs that tell you it’s time to buy:

  • Your furnace is more than 15 years old. As mechanical systems age, they experience wear and tear, and their energy efficiency starts to drop. Although a new furnace requires a financial investment, it will pay you back in lower heating costs.
  • Your heating bills keep rising without a significant change in the weather or your comfort preferences.
  • Your furnace starts making strange noises inside the blower compartment. This can signal motor or heat exchanger failure.
  • Your furnace needs frequent repairs. When the mechanical and electrical parts inside the furnace need to be replaced with some frequency, it’s time to consider central heating and cooling installation in Cincinnati. Not only is the lack of heat uncomfortable while you wait for a repair or the replacement parts, but the investment in new parts and labor also may not be worth it, especially if your heating bills keep rising.
  • Your furnace has signs of rust. Any sign of rust inside the blower compartment is a red flag that replacement may be imminent.
  • Your furnace has a cracked heat exchanger. Lack of professional maintenance or running your system with a dirty air filter can crack this vital part. If your carbon monoxide (CO) detectors go off after the furnace starts or shortly after it stops, call your HVAC contractor immediately after turning off the furnace. A cracked heat exchanger may be emitting CO into your air. A cracked heat exchanger almost always requires a furnace replacement unless a warranty covers parts and labor for repairs.

Things to Consider Before Replacing a Furnace

There are three critical factors to consider when considering a new furnace:

  • Furnace sizing
  • Energy efficiency
  • Fuel source

These factors impact the price of your new furnace, how it performs in your home and how much it costs you to run over its service life. It’s best to consult with an HVAC professional to learn how these factors apply to your home before buying a new furnace.

Sizing

Choosing the right size furnace for your home will have short- and long-term consequences for your comfort, energy bills, and system life span. Your HVAC contractor should perform a load calculation for your home using Manual J software to find the best fit before buying a new furnace. While your home’s size is part of the equation, there’s more to it, including:

  • Your home’s overall energy efficiency
  • Cubic footage of the space you want to heat
  • The layout of the home
  • The heat you create indoors
  • The number of family members and their ages
  • Temperature preferences

Skipping the sizing process and going by the size of existing equipment may result in an over- or under-sized system that increases energy consumption and reduces the new system’s life span. During the sizing process, you may also find that you can easily and affordably seal air leaks and add insulation to reduce your heating load, resulting in a smaller furnace with a lower cost.

Energy Efficiency

Heating efficiency for combustion heating systems is measured by annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE rating), which starts at 80. This rating reflects the percentage of the fuel the equipment uses to heat your home instead of total usage. A system with an 80 AFUE uses 80% of its fuel for heating instead of wasting it up the chimney.

When buying a new furnace, you’ll find that systems with a higher AFUE cost more. The most efficient systems available have ratings that reach the high 90s. Since winters can be long and harsh in our area, better efficiency translates to reduced heating bills over the system’s lifetime.

Fuel Sources

Find out what fuels are available in your area and check their costs, as the fuel your old furnace uses may be more expensive than newer alternatives. You may be able to make further savings by choosing the right fuel.

Key Furnace Features to Consider

A lot has changed since you last bought a new furnace. Technology advances rapidly in the HVAC industry! Today, many new features are available in new furnaces that improve household comfort and conserve energy.

Before you purchase a furnace, consider the following advanced features to look for in a new heating system:

  • Variable-speed blower: This feature allows a furnace to deliver air more quietly and slowly than a unit with a single-speed blower. It also helps to ensure a consistent temperature while minimizing drafts. Because it converts AC power to DC, a variable-speed blower uses less electricity. According to engineering studies, these blowers can lower heating costs by as much as 40%.
  • Variable heat output: This is an option on many furnaces with variable-speed blowers. It automatically adjusts output, depending on heating requirements.
  • Ignition system: No more pilot light! Today’s furnaces have intermittent, direct-spark, or hot-surface ignitions, thereby eliminating the need for a constant flame, which makes them more energy-efficient
  • Two-stage gas valve: This energy-saving component is designed to operate in its first stage when heating requirements are moderate. As the outdoor temperature falls and heating requirements rise, the valve operates in its second stage. The two-stage design offers significant benefits in terms of savings.
  • Heat exchanger: Look for a heat exchanger that’s made of stainless steel for corrosion resistance. Stainless steel construction also maximizes strength against thermal fatigue.
  • Premium filters: Many high-efficiency furnaces come with electrostatic or HEPA filters, which better trap particulates than standard air filters. An electrostatic filter uses an electrical charge to trap particulates. A HEPA filter, meanwhile, is denser than a standard filter.

When you’re buying your furnace, talk with your contractor about integrating zoned heating. Zoned heating allows you to keep one consistent temperature throughout your home when one area is susceptible to heat loss. It can also allow you to keep parts of your home at different temperatures. For example, if you have an elderly family member in your home, their room can be kept warmer than the rest of the house.

How Much Does a Furnace Cost?

It’s no secret that furnaces don’t come cheap. However, most Cincinnati homeowners feel more comfortable shopping for equipment and obtaining quotes from contractors when they have a rough idea of what to expect.

When you buy a furnace, the quote you receive from your contractor includes both equipment and installation. You buy the equipment from your contractor, who also takes care of installing it for you. All the factors and features above impact the cost of equipment, and some additional factors impact the cost of installation, such as updates your home needs to ensure the new system operates at its best.

When you buy a furnace, keep in mind the following estimates:

  • Installation for gas furnaces typically costs between $2,500 and $6,100.
  • Installation for electric furnaces typically costs between $1,200 and $5,900.

High-Efficiency Furnace Installation in Cincinnati

When it’s time to buy a new electric or gas furnace, Apollo Home is here to assist you through every step of the process. Our selection of new high-efficiency heating equipment offers options for any Cincinnati home, and our licensed HVAC technicians deliver top-notch installation services for ongoing reliable performance.

Contact us today for a furnace installation quote!

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"Ernie & Mike did a superb job on my new furnace and A/C installation. Despite having more than a day’s work to do, they came in and stayed until the job was done. They were organized, efficient, and protected the rest of the house well. Got both furnace and A/C installed the same day. Ernie was courteous, informative, and clearly knew his job better than anyone I’ve encountered before. The units look so good guests now get The Tour of our new system. Apollo is clearly not a fly-by-night company. I would recommend them to anyone in need of a new furnace and/or A/C."
- Jerry A.
"I called Apollo because of a water leak I thought I had in our upstairs shower going into the kitchen. Robbie came and assured me everything was fine & looked at all the other plumbing. He ended up changing a few pipes for our washer & clearing a drain. He was very nice & knowledgeable with all my questions. I ended up signing up for the care plan & was very happy with my service."
- Cassandra B.
"The team at Apollo exceeded my expectations. As a business owner, my attention to the details and commitment to providing excellent service is high. From the sales rep. to the installation team, everyone’s performance was outstanding. For example, the installation team went to great lengths to protect our floors, placing floor runners and across the wood floors and up the stairs. They even were spot washing walls upon their departure. I highly recommend this company."
- Randy B.
"We scheduled an estimate AND a tune-up. We knew something was wrong with our furnace, but hoped we could make it through the rest of the season. Upon telling Bill what our furnace was doing, he warned us immediately what the possible outcome was going to be; a cracked heat exchanger. He watched the flames roll backward, tested carbon monoxide levels, which were so high they meter’s last reading was 5,600 before saying “high”. He immediately shut it down, tagged it, and explained that with levels that high and children in our home he wanted off right away. He continued his inspection and showed us via a camera that not only was it cracked in multiple places, but had holes all over it. He gave us a few options for repairing it; his knowledge as well as genuine concern was beneficial and refreshing. Luckily we also scheduled an estimator, Micah, to come too and we were able to get costs between repairing and replacing (with several options). We decided to replace with a much higher efficiency furnace and one sized properly to our home. Hands down, not only did they both provide us great service and knowledge, but without sounding dramatic, they may have saved our lives. This was our first time calling Apollo, but it won’t be our last."
- Sarah B.
"Apollo is an excellent company. I always receive great service. Alex A. was professional and friendly. He kept me informed during the process of checking my furnace and heat pump to make sure they were working properly. The company makes sure you are notified who is coming and when they are on the way. All my interactions with the company have been wonderful."
- Beverly S.
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