Furnace Rating

What A Furnace Rating Tells You

By knowing what furnace ratings are and what information they provide you, you can save a great deal of money on your energy costs in the future. When you go to shop for a new heating system, you will find that there is great variety between manufacturers and models. This makes it difficult to know which is the better model of two. One thing that can help you to make a comparison between two items is to look at the furnace rating. This number will help you make an informed decision.

A Furnace Rating, also know as fleet efficiency, doesn’t rate the quality of brand or type of furnace. What this number does is to give you information about the annual fuel utilization of a particular model. This number can allow you to compare two or more models in terms of how much fuel they use in a given time period. You will not want to base you final decision on this number alone though. Quality, durability and installation costs are not factored into the equation when determining this particular rating.

Back in 1992, the United States government passed a law that states the furnace rating of any particular model cannot be below 78%. For mobile homes the number is reduced to 75%, but this is the only exception. The most efficient furnaces have a rating of 90% or higher and, if you choose to go from a pre-1992 furnace to a new one, you can save as much as 40% of your yearly energy costs. With a higher efficiency furnace, a vast majority of the fuel is converted to energy leading to less loss and waste.

One thing you will notice when comparing furnaces is that this rating is often highest for gas boilers. The next most efficient type if an oil-fired furnace and then a non-condensing gas boiler. Forced heat is often rated the lowest and this will be reflected in the furnace rating. Yet, the initial cost of forced heat is frequently cheaper so bear this in mind. Only you can determine which is right for your family and your situation.

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