A dual-fuel system delivers optimal heating efficiency for Dayton area homeowners by utilizing an efficient heat pump during moderately cold weather and tapping into the heating power of a gas furnace when it gets colder. Learn how a dual-fuel heating system can help you maximize energy savings, and enjoy optimal home comfort.
How a dual-fuel system works
Before temperatures dip below the heat pump’s balance point, typically around the freezing mark, a home is efficiently heated by way of heat transference from the natural properties of refrigerant to extract heat from cold outside air, and to move and release the heat inside a home. Only a moderate amount of electricity is used for this type of heating.
However, when temperatures dip below the freezing mark, a heat pump may not be able to keep up with the heating demands of a home. As a result, in a standard air-source heat pump, backup electric resistance heating will take over, which is basically an oversized and inefficient space heater.
A dual-fuel system maximizes heating efficiency by switching from the heat pump’s regular operation to a gas-fueled furnace when outside temperatures become too cold for the heat pump to heat efficiently. While a furnace isn’t as efficient as a heat pump for energy consumed per heat energy delivered, a furnace far exceeds electric resistance heating in efficiency. Moreover, with natural gas prices as low as they are these days, a dual-fuel system provides the option of manually switching to emergency gas heat. This can make sense if the cost of natural gas is low enough to compensate for its lower energy efficiency. In other words, with low gas prices, it may actually be cheaper to use your furnace than the heat pump, even in moderate temperatures.
Cost analysis
Your HVAC professional should perform a comparative cost analysis to determine if upgrading to a dual-fuel system is the best option for return on investment. Electricity prices and natural gas prices for the previous year are factored, as well as speculative energy prices over the life of the new system. When you consider that Dayton-area homeowners average more than 100 days of temperatures below the freezing point, a dual-fuel heating system is likely to make perfect sense for your household.
For more information about a dual-fuel system, please contact us at Ace Hardware Home Services, Inc.today. Our goal is to provide 100 percent satisfaction to our Dayton area residential and commercial customers.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Dayton, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about dual-fuel systems and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
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