Is there anything more glorious than bright flames in the fireplace? In terms of looks, a fireplace is much more spectacular than invisible hot air coming from ducts. That said, a fireplace might not be the perfect replacement for a furnace. If you are looking at the energy efficiency side of things, a furnace has some benefits. Before you make any decisions, look closely at an energy efficiency comparison between the two.
A Fuel-Power Rating System
Both a gas fireplace and a gas furnace must burn fuel to generate the flames required to create heat. Efficiency usually refers to how much gas becomes necessary to generate heat. When a system uses too much gas, then it doesn’t rank high on the efficiency scale. And there literally is a scale. The Annual Fuel Efficiency Ratio (AFER) scale logs the percentage of gas burned to generate. Top-of-the-line furnaces deliver a ratio well into the 90% range. Lower-quality furnaces won’t provide that much. A fireplace, however, has a very unimpressive ratio because it must produce a giant flame, generally, for visual purposes.
Tune-Ups Help with Efficiency
A dirty furnace won’t produce heat at the highest level of efficiency. Neither would one in need of parts upgrades. Perhaps a tune-up would give a furnace a greater efficiency boost. Beltway Air Conditioning & Heating meets a variety of heating and cooling service requests in the Hanover, MD, area. If you want furnace repair or replacement, the technicians at the company can do the job.
Combining the Furnace and Fireplace
A fireplace can’t heat an entire home, but it can heat a single room efficiently. Perhaps the furnace could run at, possibly, 60 degrees to keep the house warm while the furnace keeps an occupied room at 70 degrees. A fireplace can’t replace a furnace because of its limitations, but it may complement the furnace nicely.
Maximize the efficiency of heat in your home today. Make a fast call to Beltway Air Conditioning & Heating to set a date on a service call. We offer heating and cooling services.
