When you are in the market for a new furnace you might have noticed something, you won’t be able to replace your existing mid-efficiency unit with another mid-efficiency unit!
The laws behind the efficiency allowability of gas-fired appliances has changed, including residential furnaces, which means that the minimum efficiency you can purchase right now would be a 95% efficient furnace.
The biggest change you will notice from this system is going to be how it is vented. If you have a mid-efficiency furnace, you will notice that a metal vent pipe comes off of it. A lot of heat gets wasted in this venting process due to the fact that the mid-efficiency unit only has a primary heat exchanger. The cold air comes in, gets heated, and the hot air that isn’t forced through your duct work gets exhausted up the metal vent. This air is still very hot when it is being exhausted hence why it needs to be done with the metal vent pipe.
High-efficiency furnaces have a primary and secondary heat exchanger, so instead of it being exhausted right away, the secondary heat exchanger absorbs much of the remaining heat from the gases and turns it into usable heat. The gas that is now exhausted is cool enough to flow through a System 636 PVC pipe from your furnace to outside. In order to run this venting, you will have 1 or 2 holes (depending on the space and the system), cored into the side of your building. The white venting pipes will run from your furnace to that hole(s) and the venting will protrude through the hole, and will be routed up and faced away from your building.
Another difference you will notice if you are replacing your system, is the addition of a drain tube from your new furnace. High-efficiency furnace models “condense” the gases in the heat exchangers, causing condensation to build up. When the drain line is being run from your furnace it may be directed toward a floor drain, laundry tub, or even sometimes can be drained outdoors. You will notice a decent amount of water flowing from this tube in the colder months, do not be alarmed, it is normal!
So, when it is time to replace your furnace, give the experts at HAMCO Heating & Cooling Ltd. a call! We will help guide you through choices that meet your needs.