Knowledge is power, that’s the truth. Learning about something mundane like your furnace might sound like a waste of time, when you could be playing some fall sports or watching movies, but it’s more productive than people might think. Furnaces are a key element of our homes being comfortable during the colder seasons, and a little bit of knowledge might help you solve a problem that would otherwise be stressful and confusing.
Most furnace issues require professional furnace repair in Bixby, OK. Most homeowners don’t have the tools or experience to safely handle fixing their gas furnaces, and this is perfectly normal. But the time it takes between a furnace problem and calling for repairs is crucial, and most homeowners need to know a bit about their systems to call at the right time for support.
So, here are three fun facts about your gas furnace that will help you be a more proactive homeowner when things go wrong!
Fact #1: Some Furnaces Need a Water Pump!
Gas furnaces burn fuel to create heat. Similarly to when you’re at a campfire, this flame emits fumes that can be a combination of different materials released into the atmosphere. For gas flames, like the one inside of your furnace right now, the exhaust fumes can be made up of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, smoke, and even water vapors.
That’s right, one of the byproducts of the gas burning process is H2O! Which means that water vapor is quickly sent out of your home’s exhaust port so it doesn’t flood your house.
However, sometimes the water can condense on the cold exhaust pipe and create ice or water that drips down back into the system. This is what makes some furnaces require a water pump to help remove the water when this happens. Isn’t that neat?
Fact #2: Electric Furnaces Are 100% Efficient
Gas furnaces have a rating of 0-100 AFUE which stands for annual fuel utilization efficiency. It’s basically a percentage of the gas that’s burned which turns into heat you can feal. The higher and closer this number is to 100, the more efficient your gas furnace is.
Electric furnaces have an AFUE of 100, because all of the electrical energy used by the system contributes to heating your home. So yes, electric furnaces are 100% efficient.
But they might still cost more money to operate due to electricity costs being higher than gas costs. This is why a gas furnace can be more affordable currently.
Fact #3: Your Air Filter Isn’t Designed to Improve Air Quality
Let us preface this by saying that it’s possible your air filter is improving your air quality, but that’s not it’s main purpose. And it never hurts your air quality either.
The air filter is mainly designed to protect the interior components of your furnace from getting inundated with dust, debris, pet dander, and other contaminants that would otherwise gunk up the system and cause it to slow down. This slow down would lead to inefficiency and higher heating bills month to month as a result.
If you need help with your furnace, contact JC Mechanical, the Wizard of Blizzard.