While gas furnaces remain the most common heating option for much of the US, more and more homeowners are opting to install heat pumps instead. One thing that sets heat pumps apart from other HVAC units is that they provide heating and air conditioning. They also just don’t convert energy into heat like furnaces and all other types of electric heating do. Instead, they use electricity to capture and transfer heat, which allows them to work far more efficiently. While heat pumps do have many advantages, they aren’t necessarily always going to be the right choice for every home. That’s why it’s important that you consider the pros and cons of both heat pumps and furnaces.
Installation Cost
Generally speaking, you can usually expect to pay more for a heat pump than you would for a furnace, but it really depends on the model you choose. For instance, a top-of-the-line high-efficiency condensing furnace may cost more than a basic furnace, especially if you were to opt for a modulating furnace instead of a single-stage unit.
When looking at the cost of a heat pump, you also have to consider the fact that it can cool your home as well. This allows you to save on the cost of needing to have a separate AC unit. Taking that into account, a heat pump is almost always going to cost less overall compared to what you’d pay for both a furnace and AC. That said, you may still be better off going with a furnace if you already have an AC that isn’t all that old and still works well.
Energy Efficiency and Heating Costs
It’s also somewhat tough to directly compare the efficiency and overall heating costs of heat pumps and furnaces. Part of the reason is that the efficiency of each type of unit is measured in a different way. AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency) is the metric used to express the efficiency of any gas furnace and just tells you what percentage of the gas the unit uses directly goes into heating the house. Conventional furnaces are typically between 80% and 85% AFUE, which means that 15-20% of the energy they use is wasted. Condensing furnaces range between 90% and 98.5% AFUE.
The efficiency of a heat pump when running in heating mode is expressed in its HSPF2 (Heating Seasonal Performance Factor) rating. These ratings are more difficult to understand, as they are a ratio of how many BTUs of heating a unit puts out to how many total kilowatt-hours of electricity it uses over an entire heating season. Heat pumps are often 300-400% efficient, but they continue working less and less efficiently the colder the temperature outside is. That’s why HSPF2 ratings look at the average efficiency throughout a cooling season.
Even when the weather is much colder, a heat pump is always going to work more efficiently than a furnace. The only time this isn’t going to be the case is when it’s so cold that the electric heat strips need to come on and provide supplementary heating, as they use far more electricity than the heat pump itself does.
In terms of actual heating costs, a furnace can sometimes still be less expensive to run despite not being as efficient, especially in colder climates where the heat pump rarely works at near its peak efficiency. The main reason is that natural gas rates in many parts of the country are quite a bit lower than the cost of electricity.
Heating Effectiveness
Heating effectiveness is one area where furnaces are the hands-down winner due to how much more heat they put out. The easiest way to compare the heating effectiveness of each type of unit is to look at the average temperature rise they can produce, which means how much hotter the air they put out is compared to the current air temperature in the house. Heat pumps can typically achieve a temperature rise of around 15-30 degrees, depending on how cold it is outside. That means if the house is currently 65 degrees, the air coming out of your vents will usually be between 80 and 95 degrees. You’ll usually see a lower rise at night and in the early morning, and a higher rise during the warmer parts of the day when the sun is shining on the unit.
The temperature rise for a furnace is always expressed in a range and can vary depending on the size and model of the unit. The lowest you’ll usually see is a rise of 30-50 degrees, but most furnaces are designed to achieve a rise of around 40-70 or 50-80 degrees. Even with a basic furnace, the air coming out of your vents will be much hotter than it would be with a heat pump.
Furnaces heat so quickly and effectively that they will usually only need to run for around 15 minutes at a time and cycle on twice an hour when maintaining the temperature in a house. Heat pumps will always stay on far longer and may need to run constantly whenever the outdoor temperature drops below 40 degrees or so. If you have an old house that’s fairly leaky or not sufficiently insulated, a heat pump could often struggle to keep your house fully warm. A furnace will always have to run more often in this situation, but it will always be able to keep your house as warm as you want it as long as it’s working properly.
Lifespan
Another important factor to consider is how long you can expect a furnace or a heat pump to last before it can no longer work well enough or completely gives out. The life expectancy of either type of unit depends in large part on whether you have it serviced annually and get any issues that arise repaired promptly. A well-maintained furnace will typically last for a minimum of 15 years, and some units end up lasting for 20 years or more. Some heat pumps also last for 15+ years, but it’s more common for them to only last for around 12 years or so before needing to be replaced. The reason furnaces tend to last quite a bit longer is obviously that they only get used for part of the year instead of having to run during both summer and winter like heat pumps do.
If you’re searching for a reliable HVAC contractor in the Newburgh, NY, area, look no further than Polar Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning. Whether it’s a new heating installation or any type of repair or maintenance service, you can trust that you’ll receive a top-notch, hassle-free experience when you choose our company. We’re a Bosch Platinum Home Comfort PRO Partner and a Fujitsu Elite Dealer, enabling us to offer some of the best furnaces and heat pumps in the industry. We offer free estimates as well as financing options for new installations on approved credit.
Call Polar Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning today for all of your heating services.
