How AFUE Relates To Your Home's Heating System
Maintaining a warm home during the winter months is important, but it can be costly. Homeowners can experience an increase in utility costs after firing up their furnaces. Keeping heating costs to a minimum is important.
Understanding the relationship between annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) ratings and your furnace will help you make informed decisions to help reduce your heating costs in the future.
What is AFUE?
To begin understanding how AFUE can influence your home heating costs, you need to know what AFUE is. AFUE is essentially a measure of the efficiency of the combustion process within your furnace. The AFUE rating is usually expressed as a percentage. The higher the AFUE percentage is, the more efficiently the furnace can produce heat.
AFUE percentages let you know what percentage of the fuel supplied to your furnace is actually being utilized to fuel the combustion process. Fuel can be lost through chimneys and leaks, reducing the efficiency of your heating system. A furnace with a higher AFUE rating will be able to heat your home more effectively by utilizing fuel efficiently.
Actual Effects of AFUE
It's important to evaluate a furnace's AFUE rating in relation to the quality of your home's heating system as a whole.
The AFUE rating only tells you how much fuel is being used to power the combustion process. AFUE ratings do not take into account heat loss due to leaking air ducts or inadequate insulation within your home.
If you truly want to reduce your heating costs this winter, you need to invest in a furnace with a high AFUE rating and ensure that your heating system is airtight.
Cost Savings
Now that you understand how a furnace's AFUE rating relates to fuel consumption, you can see why an efficient furnace is needed to save you money on your heating costs. The more fuel that is used to actually power the combustion process, the more efficient the heating process within your home will be.
A furnace with a high AFUE rating will actually utilize less fuel than a furnace with a lower AFUE rating to maintain the same level of heat within a home. This fuel efficiency means a more comfortable living environment and more money in your pocket each month.
Keeping utility costs low during the winter can be a struggle. Upgrade to a furnace with a high AFUE rating and have your HVAC technician repair leaking air ducts to reduce your heating costs this winter.