If you’re in the market to replace your home’s furnace or blower, now is the time to consider which equipment will best serve the needs of your home and your family. No one wants to suffer through a frigid Dayton area winter with a noisy, inefficient furnace that may literally leave you and your family in the cold.
All furnaces use a blower to force heated air throughout your home via the ductwork, but a variable speed furnace blower can significantly increase the annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) of your heating system. The following points should help you see how a variable speed blower will lower your expenses and raise your comfort levels.
- Electrical efficiency: These furnace blowers employ electronically commutated motors (ECMs) that use less electricity than a standard motor. An ECM has a converter that changes the alternating current (AC) normally used to direct current (DC). This conversion can lower your energy use by more than 500 watts per hour.
- Zoning: Variable speed blowers are excellent for homes that are zoned for heating and cooling purposes. Zoning allows you to customize the comfort levels in different areas of your home, which also helps control your energy bills.
- Consistency: Steady heat output is another important factor to consider. Instead of operating at one speed, high, a variable speed blower motor adjusts its speed to meet your temperature needs. Most often, it will operate a continuous, low level that provides more even heating with less energy, which also reduces the strain on furnace components that occurs during frequent on-and-off operation.
- Air quality: With its continuous operation, a variable speed blower motor provides enhanced air filtration and humidity control, since the air is being circulated through the air filter and any humidification enhancer more often.
- Quiet operation: A variable speed blower starts off slowly and increases output gradually, before operating at a consistent speed. There is far less start-up noise.
For more expert advice about variable speed blowers or any other issue related to your indoor comfort, please contact us at Ace Hardware Home Services, Inc. We’ve been proudly serving the Dayton and Springfield areas since 1978.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
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