Choosing Between Heat Pumps and Traditional Furnaces for Winter Comfort
Traditional furnaces have long been the dominant heating solution for folks who live in Illinois. However, heat pumps are another heating system to consider. Read on to learn more about the comparisons.
How They Work
Heat pumps and furnaces rely on different technologies. They each have their advantages.
How Traditional Furnaces Work
Most gas furnaces use natural gas as a fuel source. Burners inside the furnace heat natural gas. To prevent fumes from the natural gas from entering the ductwork, a furnace has a heat exchanger. The heat exchanger warms up to 120-140°F. A blower then moves the heated air from the exchanger into the rest of your home. Likewise, an exhaust vents any fumes from the combustion process.
Electric furnaces use electrical resistance to heat up an element, just like an electric stove or oven. Fans will then blow the air from the heated chamber throughout the ductwork.
How Heat Pumps Work
A heat pump employs the same principle that drives an air conditioner. Refrigerant is compressed and evaporated back into vapor, allowing the transport of heat. In an AC unit, the system transports the heat outside. However, this process is reversible, even on very cold days. A heat pump transports latent heat from the air or ground into your house to warm it.
Comparing the Main Advantages
The main advantage of a furnace is its reliability in all conditions. Furnaces work well even during the coldest of cold snaps. A furnace also blows hotter air, allowing the system to warm a cold room more quickly.
For a heat pump, the big advantage is efficiency. A heat pump doesn’t use fuel to warm the air. Instead, it uses electricity to encourage the refrigerant to transport latent heat. In cool-to-mild weather, a heat pump operates at 400-500% efficiency, meaning it moves four to five units of warm air for every unit of electricity it spends. While this efficiency drops with the outdoor temperature, modern heat pumps stay above 100% efficient down to temperatures close to zero.
Another advantage of a heat pump is that it can serve both a heating and cooling role. The reversibility of the refrigerant process allows a heat pump to act as an AC unit, operating at the same efficiency as an AC, too. Especially if you’re going to replace the entire HVAC in a home, this can be very appealing.
Upfront vs. Long-Term Costs
Heat pumps sound extremely appealing, and they are. Much of the balance of the comparison hinges on upfront versus long-term costs. Heat pump installation costs are often $3,000-8,000 greater compared to furnaces. Conversely, the unit price of heating energy can be much lower for a heat pump. A lot depends on the cost of electricity where you live, but a heat pump may cost as little as an eighth as much to operate.
Harsh Cold
People often assume that heat pumps can’t handle hard cold snaps. With older models from the 20th Century, this was largely true. However, modern heat pumps hold up very well in extreme cold.
Foremost, manufacturers continue to improve cold-weather performance. Secondly, many modern models come with a built-in electric furnace that serves as a secondary heat source during harsh winter weather. While there are some efficiency tradeoffs for using backup heating, the benefit is greater resilience when Illinois’ weather gets really cold.
Options
There are more options for furnaces. While natural gas is the most common solution by far, you can also find models that work with propane, heating oil, and electricity. Heat pumps work exclusively on electricity. If electric costs are high where you live, a furnace that uses fossil fuel may be the more cost-effective option. This is especially true once you add the higher installation cost.
Retrofit
Both types of heating installations retrofit well into homes. A heat pump usually has a smaller footprint, especially if you can use it to also replace an AC in addition to a furnace. Compatibility is also high for both kinds of systems when it comes to zoned HVAC, indoor air quality systems, and smart thermostats.
BELOMAN serves the people of Belleville, IL and other communities in the St. Louis Metro East region. Our business is licensed, bonded, and insured. We employ NATE-certified technicians who know how to deal with HVAC installations, repairs, maintenance, and upgrades. Your friends and neighbors have relied on us since 1959.
If you wish to discuss the merits of adding a furnace or a heat pump to your Belleville home, contact BELOMAN today.
