This article is going to focus on gas furnace boiler and the topic of them. The article will first seek to describe exactly what each of these things are, that is furnaces and boilers and they will be discussed separately. Their energy saving and environmental impact will also be discussed at length in this article.
Well the way in which a furnace works is that it actually is a form of heating system that heats the air within the household or office and pumps the heated air into the room at a particular temperature. Of course gas furnaces are powered by gas. A gas boiler while also powered by gas has the workings similar to that of a furnace only that a boiler heats water and uses the heated water to heat a room up. The steam could be used and this happens in many boiler systems or the water could be heated directly and pumped under the floorboards.
Energy Efficiency Of A Gas Furnace Boiler
More and more there has been a growing concern around the high efficiency gas furnaces and boilers. They can be powered by electricity or other non-renewable sources of energy or they could be powered by gas. There has been a standard developed by the Federal Trade Commission in the United States to measure the efficiency of all furnaces and boilers including gas furnace boiler. This measure is called the annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) of a certain boiler or furnace and allows people to measure different levels of efficiency between the different designs and fuels that various heating systems use in the country.
It has become a powerful tool of analyses and helps us better to have a comparative understanding of the different levels of efficiency between the various gas boiler furnace types out there. But before I harp on as to the merits of this measure let me just give you a brief explanation of exactly how the actual process and system of measurement actually works. In other words what exactly is a good score or a bad one in the rating system? Basically what the system does is that it measures the ratio between the energy that is used in the system and the heat output, so let’s say that a system has an AFUE rating of ninety present then that means that ninety present of the fuels that are being used are actually being converted into heat energy and the other ten percent is escaping into the lonely atmosphere and represents an inefficiency. So basically the higher the percentage the higher the efficiency of your system as a whole.
Most electric fired furnace boiler systems have a rating on the AFUE scale of between ninety five and one hundred per cent, which is pretty impressive on the face of it all but not very impressive if you look at the whole process from a broad prospective and consider that most gas furnace boiler systems while achieving the same levels of efficiency actually do not have the damaging effect to the environment that electricity does.
Electricity in and of itself is a very clean source of energy and the plain fact is that even though it is unsafe for humans, electricity is not a harmful source of energy or possess no real environmental threat if you look at it in isolation. The problem however is when you look at electricity generation and that is where all the doubts and problems associated with electricity and its generation come in.
The fact is that electricity generation is a generally
harmful practice to the environment and the dangerous gasses emitted into the atmosphere can cause irreparable harm to the ozone layer and other atmospheric concerns are also brought up by electricity generation particularly from coal and other non-renewable sources of energy. Nuclear fuels although more safe in terms of atmospheric pollution is a problem in that it gives people the issue of disposal and other concerns to worry about. So even though electricity generation and its regulation has considerably improved over the years over the years, the fact is that electricity and its traditionally non-renewable fuel sources is constantly being scrutinized and the alternatives such as gas power are becoming more and more of an attractive alternative to it all.
Reasons To Have A Gas Furnace Boiler
Most homes in the United States of America and Europe have already turned to gas furnace boiler systems for their heating needs. The question is why? Well of course it is a combination of factors.
- The first is that there has been heavier regulation as to exactly what new systems can and cannot be installed in homes. This has had the effect of regulating highly the efficiency and environmental consequences of heating systems.
- Another reason that is also relevant is the fact that many people in the world are becoming nor and more environmentally conscious and concerned about exactly what impact their energy and heating choices are making on the environment this has led them to choose to go for a gas furnace boiler system as their first choice of heating system for their households and for their offices and workplaces wherever they might be.
- This is the reality if today’s world people are become more and more aware that the choices that they make are not made in a vacuum and that when you choose to install a gas furnace boiler then what you are actually doing is installing something that will make a positive difference in the state or rather to the state of our environment and of our planet.
- Then there is yet another possible reason for going the gas furnaces boiler route. It is because when you install one of these systems you do stand in line for a tax credit in terms of energy if you do decide to install a highly efficient system so not only does it make environmental sense to use the system you also get to have one over big brother who always seems to be get the better of you every tax season.
Gas Furnace Boiler Modification
If you already have a gas furnace boiler system going on in your home you always has the option to retrofit it. This means that you can make it even more efficient and there are many options available to you in this.
These include the fact that you can use vent dampers. Now vent dampers close off the vents when the boiler is not firing and this makes the whole system more efficient but this option is not always the most cost effective one out there for you to take.
You can also do things like add time delay relays, or intermittent switching devices onto your system to try and get the most heat out of it all this will help with efficiency and will enable you to be a person who saves on energy costs and the environment.
Is Installing A Gas Furnace Boiler Worth The Cost
Over the years many people have complained about the price of gas going up all the time, but in the same period the price of oil has also gone up at a much faster rate meaning that if you have a gas furnace boiler system you are actually ahead of the curve in terms of saving money from lower fuel prices and the constant increases that come with world economic growth in that market.
The choice really is yours in the sort of climates that exist in the United States and Europe you really do not have a choice whether or not to use heating in your home it is a necessity more than it is a luxury, the question that one has to ask themselves is what sort of choices are you going to make and exactly what sort of fuel source are you going to use for your heating needs. In my humble opinion it really is a no brainer, gas furnace boiler systems are hands down the best option out there they have great environmental ratings and they have very good energy efficiency levels should you decide to install the right system for the job, let me really be honest about it. I will not choose any other heating system for my needs because it makes sense financially as well as from a social awareness perspective.
The only thing is that if you do have a gas furnace boiler system happening then it is not the end of the road for you and you environmental crusade there is much more that we can do to help our environment, to improve energy efficiency and ensure that we as a society are moving to a place where we make sustainable choices and sustainable decisions that is the responsibility that we have not only for ourselves but for our children. Now I am sure that you have heard it all before but there it is and these are the choices that we are constantly called to make as members of society. However, installing a gas furnace boiler is a really good start.
