If you are shopping for a new furnace for your Butler County or Greater Cincinnati area home, you understand how much heating systems have changed since you bought your last unit. Today's furnaces have an array of bells and whistles that make them significantly more efficient than the unit that has been heating your home until now. 

Your present unit might have an annual fuel utilization efficiency of as low as 50 percent. That means half of what you're paying to heat your home is going up in smoke. In comparison, furnaces manufactured today must have an AFUE of at least 78 percent. High-efficiency furnaces can have AFUE ratings approaching 100 percent. That means next to no energy waste. These high-efficiency furnaces cost more than lower-efficiency furnaces, but they begin paying for themselves in the form of lower energy bills from day one. 

Here are some of the features that facilitate high-efficiency performance:

• The variable-speed blower motor moves at different speeds to meet the precise heating demands of your home. A conventional blower motor cycles on and off, but always runs at full speed when it's on. A variable-speed blower motor runs all the time, but at a lower speed until more heat is needed. Then it ramps up to meet the heat demand. By running at a low speed most of the time instead of running on high intermittently, the variable-speed blower motor can conserve energy.
• The two-stage gas valve adjusts the flame in your furnace for greatest efficiency. Following the initial ignition, the furnace is heated quickly, and then the flame is reduced to save energy and provide slower heating for a longer time. 
• The electronic pilot has replaced the standard pilot light in most contemporary furnaces. While the standard pilot light remains on all of the time -- burning gas even when the furnace isn't running -- the electronic pilot light fires the furnace on demand, thus saving energy. 

For more information, contact Tri-County Heating & Cooling. We've served homeowners in the Butler County and Greater Cincinnati area for more than 40 years. 

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