It’s a beautiful day outside and the sun is shining and thoughts about furnace replacement are as far, far away from your thoughts as the next galaxy. The temperature for winter is crisp and cold but feels good outside. Suddenly, your furnace stops working and this beautiful day has all of a sudden become filled with the challenges of staying warm and getting your furnace operational as soon as possible.
But how are you to do that? Can you do the work yourself? Do you even know where to begin? There is so much to know before starting to change out and replace an old furnace for a furnace system replacement that the work is often better left up to trained HVAC service professionals who do this daily for a living.
However, if you are undecided on whether to do the work yourself or not, the following will give you some basics on replacing a furnace to help you make a decision to hire someone else or perform the removal and installation activities yourself.
- BTU – British Thermal Unit (Btu). This is a measurement of heat required to increase the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. Each Btu is equal to the amount of energy given off by one lit match. A furnace unit with 5,000 Btu’s will consume 5,000 Btu’s each hour. The larger the Btu’s the more energy.
- AFUE – Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. This represents the average annual consumption of your furnace system to contrast the amount of Btu’s the unit is to give off and the actual amount of Btu’s it does. If your rating is 90% your furnace unit will burn 4500 Btu’s of your 5,000 Btu furnace unit.
- Ductwork – This will need to be checked to make sure there are no leaks or damaged ducts. This is also a good time to have them cleaned. Again, you can do this, requiring additional equipment, or you may hire someone to do this for you.
- Heat Exchanger – This creates heat from the furnace and ends up in ductwork of your home. This is a tricky installation and can lead to danger and explosions if not done properly.
- Blowers and fans – these drive the heat through the ductwork of your home to the rooms.
- Permits – You will need to see what your county or city says about permits for this work.
- Electrical codes – Do you know what the electrical codes are locally? If not now is a good time to check.
- Types of Furnace Units – There are so many types of furnace units that you can purchase and install. Research the internet for units that meet the specs of your home.
Unless you have experience and training with removing old furnaces and installing new one’s then it may be safest and less expensive in the long run to hire a heating and air company in Chester SC, or wherever you live, to make sure this gets done right.