AFUE is a rating system used for new heating equipment. It stands for Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency, and along with the overall power output, it is the number you need to pay the closest attention to when purchasing a new heater.
This is particularly important now, when winter has come to Havertown, PA, and homes need heating every day. If your system suffers a breakdown now, you need to move quickly to get it replaced. Here’s why we think you should never move so fast as to overlook the AFUE rating.
What You Should Know about AFUE Ratings
The rating itself is fairly simple: it’s a percentage measuring the amount of consumed energy that translates into actual heat. A furnace with an AFUE rating of 75%, for example, would use 75% of the energy consumed on actual heating. The other 25% would be lost to waste and inefficiency. Obviously the higher the AFUE rating, the better. However, it’s important to obtain the proper power output levels first.
Why? Because higher efficiency doesn’t matter if the heater isn’t properly sized. For example, if you need a heater with a 40,000 BTU (British Thermal Units) power output and an AFUE rating of 90% and you buy a heater that produces 10,000 BTU and an AFUE rating of 95%, the added efficiency won’t do you any good. The lack of output means that the heater will run for far longer periods of time, eliminating the benefit of that added efficiency. Similarly, a heater that is overly powerful will short cycle, turning on and off rapidly and wasting power in the process that will also eliminate the benefits of an AFUE rating.
In most cases, you and your technician should determine the proper power output levels required by the new heater, then select the unit in that size range with the highest AFUE rating you can afford.
For timely advice and quality heating installation services, call on the pros at Wm. Henderson Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Inc. today!