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FurnacesChances are, you're paying a lot more for natural gas than you should be. Your home might also have uneven temperatures from room to room, or maybe your furnace has a roar your neighbors can almost hear. If so, HouseSmart Heating and Air Conditioning installs new furnace models from Lennox, Goodman, and Amana that can help you with all of these problems. JUST ANNOUNCED: The new rebate amounts provided under the Provincial Government's LiveSmartBC program have been released. The rebate on a 95% efficient furnace with a variable speed fan will be $770 and the rebate on a 92% or greater model will be $580. Add this to the $300-$500 rebates provided under the Federal ecoENERGY program, and a possible $1270 in rebates exists.These rebates can pay for up to a quarter of the cost of the installation. See rebate amounts for all home improvements at http://www.gov.bc.ca/empr/popt/down/livesmartbc_may14b.pdf. New furnaces from HouseSmart Heating & Air Conditioning use up to 40% less natural gas than older models Natural gas prices have more than tripled in the past 10 years (1), and many analysts are forecasting further price increases. Fortunately, the efficiency ratings of new furnaces have also been increasing. In 1995, the government raised the minimum required efficiency of new furnaces to 78%. Most furnaces installed before this time were only 60-70% efficient, and very old furnaces can be less than 50% efficient. A continuously burning pilot light can decrease these efficiencies by another 5%. New Lennox, Amana, and Goodman furnaces are 80% to 95% efficient. They do not have pilot lights and can reduce your heating costs by up to 40%.
Amounts are from BC Hydro's web site, and are based on energy consumption for space heating in the average BC home. Some homes have much higher heating costs. Since space heating accounts for about 60% of the average home’s energy cost (according to Natural Resources Canada’s Heating With Gas) these savings can be substantial, and a new furnace can pay for itself in as few as five years. Reduce your home’s greenhouse gas emissions and get a grant According to the Environment Canada report Climate Change Plan for Canada (2), 28.7% of personal greenhouse gas emissions are from space heating, compared to 49.9% from transportation. Since there are more than twice as many vehicles as household furnace/ boilers, this means that the average furnace/boiler produces more ghg’s than the average vehicle. When you reduce the amount of natural gas you use to heat your home by a certain percentage, your ghg’s from heating should be reduced by about the same amount.
The federal government is looking to reward homeowner’s who increase their homes energy efficiency and reduce their ghg’s with the EcoEnergy Retrofit Program. You can receive a grant of $300 on a 90%+ furnace and an extra $200 if it also has a variable speed DC motor. Heat pumps can reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90%, while also cutting your heating costs by up to 60% and providing air conditioning in the summer. Variable speed DC motors: Save on electricity, too Everyone knows that their furnace is their home’s main consumer of natural gas. But according to Natural Resources Canada, a furnace’s fan motor is “in many cases the largest consumer of electricity in the household.”(3) While most homes currently have furnaces with AC motors, some new furnaces have variable speed DC motors which only use about half as much electricity. If the fan is being run continuously, a variable speed DC motor will only use about $43 of electricity compared to $185 with a standard motor. If the fan is being run during heating only then consumption should be about $31 per year compared to $55 per year with a standard motor. (4) Continuously running a variable speed fan will result in more even temperatures from room to room due to the continuous flow of air. Continuous airflow will also result in improved humidity and cleaner air from increased use of the filter. For more information on these motors see BC Hydro's vsm h.e.l.p. sheet. Having two burner stages can further reduce household temperature variances. Two-stage furnaces for improved home comfort Older furnaces only operate at full capacity, or “high-fire” when they come on. On moderately cool days, they wait until your home gets cooler than the thermostats set point, and then blast in hot air for a brief period of time until your home gets too hot. Most of the furnaces we now install are two-stage furnaces which can operate at a lower capacity, or “low-fire” mode, on milder days. The furnaces runs at a lower level more consistently with the fan circulating the air longer, resulting in more even temperatures over time and from room to room within your home. A two-stage furnace will also run quieter in the lower stage.
Our furnaces are quieter, too We install the quietest 80% efficient furnace you can buy, the Lennox G60V. The 94-95% efficient Lennox G61V, the quietest furnace you can buy, is even quieter.
Warranties Lennox Signature Series include a 20 year or lifetime warranty on the heat exchanger and a 10 year warranty on the other parts, Elite Series units include a 20 year or lifetime warranty on the heat exchanger and a 5 year warranty on the other parts, and Merit Series units include a 20 year warranty on the heat exchanger and a 5 year warranty on other parts. How do new furnaces use so much less gas than older ones? New 80% furnaces use less energy than older furnaces due to many design improvements, including 1) lack of a pilot light (hot-surface ignition is used instead) 2) closing off of the chimney when the burners are off- there is not always an opening for heat loss 3) a heat exchanger with more surface area enabling more exchange of heat A high efficiency (90-95%) furnace achieves its rating by releasing the flue gasses at a lower temperature. These furnaces are called condensing furnaces. Natural gas is CH4, and requires two oxygen molecules to burn. This results in 1 molecule of carbon dioxide and 2 molecules of water as steam. A condensing furnace removes the heat from this steam in a second stainless steal heat exchanger until it condenses to water, resulting in increased efficiency. The HouseSmart Heating & Air Conditioning Difference Shell Busey's HouseSmart Heating and Air Conditioning is your top choice for home heating and cooling installations. Why? Because we are determined to give homeowners what they expect from a company with Shell Busey's name on it: installations and service work which are performed to the highest standards. Your system will be installed by experienced, factory-trained professionals. We invest in our people and pay superior wages to provide you with the best installation. Our technicians will respect your home using drop sheets and shoe covers. The most important day in a heating system's life is the day it is installed. A proper installation is critical to achieving the longest, quietest life possible for your furnace. Call 604-GOT HEAT (468-4328) for more information or to schedule a free quote on a furnace installation. Serving the Greater Vancouver area including North Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam, Surrey, Tsawwassen, White Rock, and Langley. More Information Natural Resources Canada's Heating With Gas guide BC Hydro's brochure explaining the advantages of variable speed fan motors Lennox.com furnace models page Amana-hac.com high efficiency and mid efficiency furnace models pages Goodmanmfg.com high efficiency and mid efficiency furnace models pages Sources 1) http://www.cegenergy.ca/bc/residential/market/index.html 2) http://lakehuron.on.ca/resources/Climate_Change_plan_for_Canada.pdf 3) http://www.oee.nrcan.gc.ca/regulations/bulletin/gas-furnace-mar2007.cfm?text=N&printview=N 4) http://www.bchydro.com/rx_files/pshome/pshome8758.pdf Questions? Email info@housesmartheating.com or call 604 GOT HEAT (468-4328) | Sitemap |
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