While gas furnaces are by far the most common source of heating in Colorado and other places with cold winters, an electric furnace can also be a good choice. This can be especially true if you have a newer home that is well-sealed and well-insulated to where it stays much warmer in the winter, in which case your furnace wouldn’t need to run as much. In this article, we’ll compare gas and electric furnaces to show you some of the benefits you can get by opting for an electric furnace.
Lower Upfront Cost
When considering which type of furnace you want to install in your home, one thing you’ll always want to consider is cost. This is one area where electric furnaces have a major advantage over gas furnaces since they are almost always cheaper. However, the total cost of the installation depends in large part on what type of furnace you currently have. If you’re switching from a gas furnace to an electric unit, the final cost can end up being quite a bit higher as a result of having to install new wiring and abandoning or capping the old gas line. In some cases, you may also need to upgrade your home’s electrical service and install a large electrical panel to ensure you have sufficient power to run the furnace.
Longer Life Expectancy
Life expectancy is also another major consideration when deciding which furnace to install, and this is another area where electric furnaces are typically superior. Most gas furnaces only last for around 15 years or so. It’s possible for a gas furnace to last for around 20 years, but this is much more common in places with fairly warm, mild winters where the furnace doesn’t run all that much per year. Even in a colder climate like Colorado, you can usually expect any electric furnace to last for a minimum of 20 years and sometimes even up to 30 years. Part of the reason for this is just that electric furnaces have fewer components that can end up wearing out. Another reason is that they don’t experience anywhere near the same amount of wear and tear as gas furnaces do since they convert electricity into heat instead of needing to burn fuel to produce heat.
Reduced Maintenance and Repair Needs
The fact that electric furnaces have fewer components also means that they generally don’t require as many repairs over their lifetime and don’t require nearly as much maintenance. Any type of furnace should still be inspected and serviced every year by a certified HVAC technician, but much less goes into ensuring an electric furnace is properly maintained. If an electric furnace breaks down or stops working effectively, it usually costs less to repair it and get it working correctly again compared to what you sometimes have to pay to repair a gas furnace. Some of the issues a gas furnace can develop, such as a crack in its heat exchanger, can be extremely expensive to repair and sometimes end up costing nearly the same amount as the furnace itself.
Fewer Potential Safety Issues
Part of the reason it’s essential to have a gas furnace inspected and serviced every year is so that you can hopefully avoid any potential safety hazards, such as the risk of a fire or carbon monoxide exposure. While there is also a chance that an electric furnace can experience issues that create a fire hazard, it’s much less likely since the furnace doesn’t produce flames. With a gas furnace, sometimes the flames can end up being starved of oxygen and start rolling out or escaping the combustion chamber. This is obviously a major concern since the flames then have the potential to catch nearby objects or building materials on fire.
Although gas furnaces generally don’t produce carbon monoxide when everything is working correctly and the furnace is burning cleanly, various issues can arise that do result in carbon monoxide being produced. If the furnace isn’t properly vented or the exhaust flue is clogged, you can then end up with carbon monoxide leaking back out into the house and putting everyone at risk of potentially fatal CO poisoning. An even bigger concern is if there is a crack or hole in the furnace’s heat exchanger since this can allow carbon monoxide to leak directly into the ductwork where it then gets pumped out into every room.
Reduced Noise
All furnaces produce some noise since you’ll typically be able to hear the sound of the blower running and moving air around the house. Nonetheless, gas furnaces tend to make more noise than electric furnaces since you can also often hear the sound of other components running, such as the draft inducer fan. Gas furnaces can be especially loud when starting up. In many cases, a gas furnace will a fairly loud rumbling noise when it first ignites, and the sound can then echo through the ductwork and be loud enough that it may wake you up. This is especially common if the furnace isn’t properly maintained and has any issues like its burners being dirty. With an electric furnace, all you’ll typically be able to hear is the low hum the blower makes as it runs.
More Environmentally Friendly
This last one is somewhat tricky since it can depend on how much your furnace runs and especially how the electricity the furnace uses is produced. Electric furnaces are typically around 100% efficient since all of the electricity they use gets directly converted into heat. The very best gas furnace is only 98.5% efficient, and this is for a condensing furnace. If you look at conventional gas furnaces, many are only 80-85% efficient and waste quite a bit of the energy they use.
The thing is that just comparing the two in terms of energy efficiency doesn’t tell the entire story. That’s because gas furnaces heat more effectively and thus more quickly, resulting in them typically using less energy overall compared to electric furnaces. On the other hand, gas furnaces always produce carbon emissions whereas electric furnaces themselves don’t. However, this is where how the power needed to run the furnace is generated comes into play. If you get your power mostly from renewable sources like wind and solar or non-carbon sources like nuclear, an electric furnace will have a lower carbon footprint than a gas furnace. If all of your power comes from these types of sources, an electric furnace won’t contribute to any carbon emissions. On the other hand, if the power comes from burning fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, an electric furnace may actually contribute to more emissions being produced as a result of how much more energy it uses.
If you’re searching for a reliable, experienced heating and air conditioning company in the Longmont or Mead area, My Guy Heating and Air, LLC is the one to trust. We specialize in both residential and commercial HVAC and have what it takes to keep your home or business fully comfortable all year long. If you need to upgrade your heating system, we offer a range of high-quality gas and electric furnaces suitable for buildings of any size. You can also count on us to handle all of your repair and maintenance needs to ensure that your heating and air conditioning continue working efficiently and effectively for years to come. To schedule a heating consultation and get help choosing the right furnace installation for your specific needs, contact us today.
