Furnace Repair Sherwood Park | Which is Better, Gas or Electric Furnace
The winters can be excruciatingly cold in Alberta. You need a furnace that works efficiently and one hundred percent of the time. You cannot go without heat for too long especially in a prolonged cold snap. Even the warmer winter temperatures still chill the home considerably. The last thing you want is your furnace to not perform the way you want or need it to. Even worse, should it break down, you do not want to have to go without heat for long.
Finding the right furnace for your home takes careful consideration. What brand is the best, and why is it the best? How big of a furnace is needed for your home size? Which do you choose, a gas or electric furnace? What is the difference between them? We will discuss the answers to some of these questions in more detail.
Be comfy in the heat
The concept of comfort heating has been around since as early as B.C. time. Although heating was initially powered by fire and then coal it has evolved using better sources of fuel as well as methods to become more efficient and less costly to keep warm on those frigid days. Interestingly it has advanced so much that now we can use the same system to cool our indoor spaces on hot days. In ancient days hearths and fireplaces were the main systems. Eventually through a series of improvements we come to today where we have choices between what type of furnaces or systems we want to heat our home.
In Alberta with the grueling winters, its easy to choose between Gas or Electric Furnace, our suggestion is a forced air furnace system. This is the most efficient and lowest cost to keeping the home heated. There is less wastage and more comfort. A forced air heating system is as it sounds. A series of metal ducts run within the walls, floors, and ceilings of the home. These pipes end at a vent in the floor where you can feel the air being blasted into the room. To keep the home heated the most efficiently it is important to keep the air flow open.
Keep all vents open for optimal results
This means its best to open all the vents for the best heating results. The biggest contributor to poor heating or cool spots is compromised air flow. Something else that is most common in restricted air flow is a clogged air filter.
So, what then is the difference in having a gas furnace as opposed to an electric powered one? Well obviously a gas furnace uses natural gas as fuel. The furnace is connected to the thermostat and when it is calling for heat the unit turns on. The natural gas burns and heats the air, the heat exchanger then transfers the heated air to the blower where it is forced into the home. An electric furnace works much the same way. Clearly by the name you know that electricity is in the mix for heating. The electricity heats the resistance coils instead of burners.
Gas is a lot cheaper in Alberta
When it comes to the cost of heating the home in Alberta, gas is superior because it is the most cost effective. Even though both gas and electricity have gone up in price, natural gas tends to be more affordable. In Alberta, the resources influence the price of the energy. We are rich in natural gas therefore it is more affordable than electricity. The opposite is true in other provinces who are rich in hydro. They tend to have more affordable electricity.
The price of the gas furnace may deter you and cause you to want to purchase an electric one, but that is just one factor in choosing the right heating system for your home. It is true a gas furnace may cost double what an electric one does, but the ongoing heating utility costs will make up for it. Even though you will need a professional to install the gas furnace because of it needing proper sealing to keep harmful gases from leaking, gas is still the preferred type for Albertans.
Gas Powered Furnaces are very efficient
When we look at the heating and efficiency of gas-powered furnaces we see they cannot be beat. Gas furnaces outperform electric especially in cold climates like Alberta. Gas can heat the home faster. Electric furnaces take longer to do the same job and in a cold snap, like the ones we get here in Alberta, which is not a comfortable timeframe. With our weather going up and down so much, electric becomes quite inefficient.
Just when you turn the temperature down on the furnace a cold snap comes back, and it makes you turn the temperature back up. Electric furnaces cannot keep up with this demand in changes in such a fleeting period of time. It is inevitably more uncomfortable for the homeowner to rely on an electric furnace system.
In the winter it is very dry in Alberta because of the cold climate. When heating your home with electric or gas you will likely experience this irritation. Heat being blasted into the home makes this problem even more prevalent. The best way to alleviate this dryness is to use a humidifier. This will keep you more comfortable and prolong the wood furnishings you may have in your home. Every furnace should have a humidifier installed along with it.
Make sure you have an accompanying humidifier
At Hinse Brothers Mechanical we are offering a free humidifier when you purchase a new furnace and hot water tank. We have financing options available which even allow you to defer the payments including interest for 12 months.
At Hinse Brothers Mechanical we use only the best quality materials and products to build and repair your furnace. We also offer timely inspections and maintenance to be sure your system is working properly and does not break down when you need it the most. With our guidance and service, we will help you keep your utility bills the lowest they can possibly be. It is always better to have a quick and inexpensive maintenance job as opposed to a huge problem that needs repair when not looked after properly.