Will A New Furnace Reduce My Heating Bill?
April 7, 2013 5:39 AM Subscribe
I live in the Mid-Atlantic and my landlord just replaced the house's "ancient" (according to three separate repairman) furnace with a brand new Goodman furnace.
Will this change reduce my heating bill?
Also, while you're improving things, it might be worth having your local energy company do an efficiency audit of the house, there may be some simple fixes to make it even better.
posted by HuronBob at 6:19 AM on April 7, 2013
posted by HuronBob at 6:19 AM on April 7, 2013
Indeed, it should. I imagine that you'll see a minor decrease as this new furnace should certainly be more efficient as mentioned. We had our ancient furnace replaced two years ago and saw a small amount of savings in our utility bill after. However, we saw a huge decrease in our bill when we had our house professionally weatherized, including having new insulation blown in the attic, walls, and crawlspace. We also had new doors installed and weatherstripping added to all the windows. The combination of all those things took our bill down from about $450 a month to under $175 every month since.
I'd suggest seeing if you can't have an efficiency audit done, just as HuronBob suggested. Knowing what else was wrong and having that fixed really made all the difference for us.
Maybe check to see if your county has a Weatherization Program. Our county did and it was through that I got all the work done. The cost to my landlord was about $300 but in return she got over $4000 of work done on the house. I know our county has bankrupted our program but perhaps yours still has some money laying around. Recovery.gov is a good place to start digging around for programs like this.
posted by youandiandaflame at 6:44 AM on April 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
I'd suggest seeing if you can't have an efficiency audit done, just as HuronBob suggested. Knowing what else was wrong and having that fixed really made all the difference for us.
Maybe check to see if your county has a Weatherization Program. Our county did and it was through that I got all the work done. The cost to my landlord was about $300 but in return she got over $4000 of work done on the house. I know our county has bankrupted our program but perhaps yours still has some money laying around. Recovery.gov is a good place to start digging around for programs like this.
posted by youandiandaflame at 6:44 AM on April 7, 2013 [1 favorite]
Depends on how old you mean by "ancient"... They've had 70%+ efficiency furnaces for decades. Going to a modern 85-90% efficient one will save you a few bucks, but not so drastic you'll really notice it as more than a blip.
Seconding HuronBob - An energy audit, particularly in an old house, can potentially save you a a hell of a lot more than just upgrading the source of all that heat you waste through the walls and windows. ;)
posted by pla at 9:13 AM on April 7, 2013
Seconding HuronBob - An energy audit, particularly in an old house, can potentially save you a a hell of a lot more than just upgrading the source of all that heat you waste through the walls and windows. ;)
posted by pla at 9:13 AM on April 7, 2013
It also depends on how airtight the house is. If the house is really airtight, you'll notice less of an improvement. If the house is leaky so the heat is running all the time, you'll notice more of an improvement.
What you for sure shouldn't notice is an increase.
posted by gjc at 12:04 PM on April 7, 2013
What you for sure shouldn't notice is an increase.
posted by gjc at 12:04 PM on April 7, 2013
Keep an eye on your electric bill...that should go down (even with a gas or oil furnace). We had a 19 year old high efficiency gas furnace. When checked, its fan motor drew 1000 watts of electricity per hour (its normal operation). I was shocked...pun intended. Got a new high efficiency furnace and the motor draws a few hundred watts at highest speed.
So while your heating fuel (gas, oil) might not go down significantly, the electric bill should drop.
posted by mbarryf at 5:56 AM on April 8, 2013
So while your heating fuel (gas, oil) might not go down significantly, the electric bill should drop.
posted by mbarryf at 5:56 AM on April 8, 2013
Every furnace starts to become less efficient over time, so even a fairly efficient furnace is not going to be as efficient 20 years from now. So you figure you may have had a 75% efficient furnace that is 20 years old, maybe it was running at 60% efficiency and is now replaced by an 80%? It will make a dent. If the landlord sprung for a 95% efficiency furnace you'll notice the difference in a big way.
Our 20-odd year old furnace crapped out in the fall; we had a 95% efficiency furnace installed, and we noticed that not only was it much quieter but that the house was a lot more comfortable without feeling like it was running all the time. The air exchange is different in the new models, with outside air being used for oxygen to burn fuel, so it doesn't dry the air inside the house nearly as much as the old models. Higher internal humidity meant less static electricity, and humid air traps more heat than dry air.
But this is assuming a high efficiency furnace. Depending on when it was installed, you may have an 80% furnace now. Our furnace guy said there were new rules coming online this year specifying 95% or better for new furnaces, and a lot of companies were unloading the 80% ones from inventory, so your landlord may have sprung for a cheaper one, because he/she isn't paying for the fuel or electricity.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:46 AM on April 8, 2013
Our 20-odd year old furnace crapped out in the fall; we had a 95% efficiency furnace installed, and we noticed that not only was it much quieter but that the house was a lot more comfortable without feeling like it was running all the time. The air exchange is different in the new models, with outside air being used for oxygen to burn fuel, so it doesn't dry the air inside the house nearly as much as the old models. Higher internal humidity meant less static electricity, and humid air traps more heat than dry air.
But this is assuming a high efficiency furnace. Depending on when it was installed, you may have an 80% furnace now. Our furnace guy said there were new rules coming online this year specifying 95% or better for new furnaces, and a lot of companies were unloading the 80% ones from inventory, so your landlord may have sprung for a cheaper one, because he/she isn't paying for the fuel or electricity.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:46 AM on April 8, 2013
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posted by HuronBob at 6:18 AM on April 7, 2013 [1 favorite]