Do you need to replace or upgrade the central heating system in your home? If so, you want to give some thought to what type and model of furnace to install. Whether you choose a gas or electric furnace can make a big difference in how much you pay for heating and potentially also how comfortable your home stays throughout the winter. That’s why we’ve created this guide to allow you to easily compare gas and electric furnaces so that you decide which heating option is the right choice for your home.
Installation Cost
How much you can expect to pay for a new furnace is obviously an important factor when deciding which type of unit to install. An electric furnace will almost always be the less expensive option. You can usually expect to pay at least $500 to $2,000 more for a gas furnace than you would for an electric unit. The price difference will often be even greater if you were to install a high-efficiency two-stage or variable-speed furnace.
While electric furnaces cost less, you’ll be eligible for a federal tax credit of 30% of the total cost worth up to a maximum of $600. That is if you install an ENERGY STAR-rated gas furnace. However, it’s important to note that this is merely a tax credit and not a rebate. That means you won’t get anything if you don’t owe any federal income taxes or get a refund.
Heating Effectiveness
Heating effectiveness is one area where gas furnaces are the hands-down winner. Gas furnaces create an extreme amount of heat and raise the temperature of the air flowing through them up to around 140 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. The air does cool down as it moves through the ducts in the building. Nonetheless, it is still normally around 100 to 120 degrees when it flows out of the supply vent in any room. A properly sized gas furnace will normally increase the temperature in a house by 1 degree in only 10 minutes or so. However, exactly how fast a gas furnace will heat depends on how cold it is outside and how well insulated your home is.
Electric furnaces can’t heat a house as quickly since they typically only heat the air to around 95 degrees. However, exactly how hot the air coming out of an electric furnace will be depends on the current temperature in the home. A decent-quality electric furnace that’s working properly normally produces around a 25-degree temperature rise. That means if the temperature of the air coming into the furnace through the return air duct is 65 degrees, the furnace should heat it to around 90 degrees.
If your home is already fully warm and your heating system is just trying to maintain the temperature, a gas furnace will normally only run for 10-15 minutes per cycle. In places with extremely cold winters, a gas furnace will normally cycle on two to three times per hour. In California, the furnace may only cycle on once or twice an hour during the day and then run a bit more often at night.
Electric furnaces will usually run for at least 30 minutes per cycle and could end up running for an hour or even much more whenever it’s colder outside. If it’s extremely cold, an electric furnace may need to run almost continuously. This issue is why you rarely see electric furnaces used in cold climates since they will often struggle to keep the home sufficiently warm. It’s obviously less of a problem in California. However, you may still end up with an electric furnace running throughout the night when the outdoor temperature is in the upper 30s to low 40s.
Energy Efficiency and Operating Costs
Furnace efficiency is measured in AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency). AFUE is expressed as the percentage of the gas or electricity a furnace effectively uses to heat a building. Electric furnaces heat using electric resistance coils. The wires in these coils are similar to those in a toaster. As electricity flows through the coils, it meets resistance and causes the wires to almost instantly become red hot. This process directly converts the electricity into heat. That means electric furnaces are 100% efficient or 100% AFUE.
How gas furnaces heat the air flowing through them is a bit more complicated. Natural gas (and propane) burns at 3,560 degrees Fahrenheit, which is part of the reason why gas furnaces are so effective. The extremely hot fumes produced by the burning gas get drawn out of the combustion chamber and through the metal pipes or tubes that make up the furnace’s heat exchanger. As the fumes flow up through the tubes, they quickly heat up the metal to around 160 degrees. The air the blower pulls into the furnace gets drawn over the heat exchanger, and the heat radiating off the metal tubes instantly warms the air.
The only issue with this process is that not all of the latent heat in the hot combustion fumes is absorbed by the heat exchanger. That means at least some amount of heat remains when the fumes get vented outside, leading to some of the gas the furnace uses being wasted. Conventional or non-condensing gas furnaces waste between 15% and 20% of the energy they use. That means their energy efficiency is between 80% and 85% AFUE. High-efficiency condensing furnaces have a secondary heat exchanger that captures additional heat from the fumes before they get vented outside. That’s why all condensing furnaces are between 90% and 98% AFUE.
Although electric furnaces are more energy efficient, they consume more energy overall. This is because they don’t heat as effectively and also simply because they have such high energy needs. Many electric furnaces use anywhere from 15 to 20 kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is more than five times as much as what most central air conditioners use. The higher energy consumption of an electric furnace isn’t as big of an issue in California, but a gas furnace will still cost you quite a bit less to run.
Life Expectancy
Average life expectancy is one area where electric furnaces are superior. A typical gas furnace has an average lifespan of around 15 to maybe 20 years. Most electric furnaces, on the other hand, have a lifespan of 20 to 30 years. However, it’s important to understand that these average life expectancies assume that the furnace is inspected and professionally maintained every year. If you don’t take this step, your furnace will usually not last this long no matter which type it is.
Cozy Home Services is ready to help if you need to install a new furnace in Vacaville or the surrounding areas. Our technicians are highly skilled and have years of experience in HVAC installation. That means we can also help if you want to install a new central air conditioner, heat pump or ductless mini-split AC or heat pump. We also offer financing for new HVAC installations on approved credit. That means you can spread out the costs of your new unit instead of having to pay the full price upfront. Whether you need a new furnace, HVAC repairs or maintenance or any plumbing service, contact our expert team today.
