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Home Heating Choosing a New Furnace
As winter approaches, everyone begins to think about the
furnace. Will in kick on? Will it last through another long,
cold winter? Should we install a new furnace? If so, with what
kind? If these questions are familiar to you, keep reading as we
try to "demystify" a couple of household heating sources.
The most important step to take before starting the furnace for
the season is to have it inspected by a licensed professional.
They will clean the furnace, make sure it is in good working
order, they will also recommend any parts that will need to be
serviced or replaced in the near future.
If the furnace inspector tells you that it is time to replace
the furnace, you may be overwhelmed by the choices in today's'
furnace market. There are the standard gas, oil and electric
furnaces as well as the newer outdoor wood furnaces and
corn-fueled furnaces to name a few. There is lots of information
available on these newer furnaces on the internet, however, a
quick overview will be provided here.
One of the most popular options today is an outdoor heating
source. It uses the old standby of wood, but eliminates the mess
and smell associated with burning wood. An outdoor wood heating
unit is placed approximately 500ft from the house. The wood
burner itself is built inside of a small building, this often is
made to look like a smaller house or shed. The heat is carried
from the burner via heated water, which runs through
underground, insulated pipes. This is the most effective and
efficient method for moving heat over distances. Once the heated
water reaches its destination, there are a couple of options for
actually heating the home. Using a boiler, radiant floor heating
system, a heat exchanger or a forced air furnace that is powered
by a direct circulation system. The wood burning system can also
do double duty to heat household water if a water-to-water heat
exchanger
is installed.
Although there are many advantages to using an outside wood
burning furnace, it has a down side to its use as well. The cost
can be quite high for most people, running approximately $5,000
installed. This of course, depends upon what part of the country
you live in.
Another alternative to the traditional furnace that is gaining
in popularity is the corn burning furnace. This type of furnace
uses shelled corn (the same kind fed to livestock) to heat a
home. While this is a viable source of heat it is not fool
proof, it does have drawbacks that need to be considered before
making a final decision.
Corn fuel furnaces are comparable to a convention furnace as far
as price is concerned, costing roughly $2,000. It uses corn that
has no more than 15% moisture content; fortunately, this is the
same percentage of moisture as feed corn, making it very easy to
obtain from a local elevator. The cost of burning corn as
compared to propane is approximately one bushel of corn is to
5.5 gallons of propane fuel. Corn is also a natural and
renewable resource, and keeps farmers in business while keeping
your heating costs down.
On the other side, corn fed furnaces need daily cleaning to be
efficient. They also run on an electric fan system, if you lose
electricity, you lose heat also. For this reason, its best to
either have a generator or a back up furnace for emergencies.
Being armed with the knowledge of these types of heating sources
will make you a more educated consumer when it is time to
replace an old, worn out furnace.
About the author:
Linda Moore writes on a variety of subjects including home
ownership, family matters, personal enrichment, replacing your
furnace
and property values,
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