Options When Switching Heating Systems

It makes a lot of sense to consider switching heating systems in the spring for a few solid reasons. First, it’s not likely you’ll need to heat your home during the transition from one heating system to another. Secondly, HVAC contractors experience a lull between the heating and cooling seasons.

They’ll have more time to help you select which type would work best for you. In this region, your choices include natural gas and electrical.

Natural Gas

When you have natural gas in your home, installing a natural gas furnace makes sense if you want or need the instant warmth of gas heat, along with higher indoor temperatures. Currently gas prices are low because supplies are so abundant.

Electric Heating

Unless you’re using a heat pump, electric heating is the most expensive way to keep your home warm. Even though the winters are short in Florida, electricity costs could add up quickly if you rely on electric baseboard or radiant floor heating, an electric furnace, or electric space heaters.

The coefficient of performance (COP) is the efficiency rating applied to some heating systems, and electric resistance heaters have COP ratings of 1. This rating means that for every watt of electricity the heater uses, it creates one unit of heat. A heat pump with a COP of 4 delivers four units of heat for every watt of electricity it uses. Over the course of the winter, you’d save four times the electricity when switching heating systems to a heat pump compared to installing electric units.

Heat pumps are so efficient because they move heat from one place to another instead of generating it. In the winter, the heat pump will extract it from the outdoor air and bring it inside. The process reverses in the summer. If your cooling system is showing signs of aging along with your furnace, a heat pump is the logical choice for this region.

Switching heating systems isn’t always a straightforward choice. If you’d like help choosing your best option, contact Rinaldi’s Energy Solutions, providing HVAC services for Orlando-area homeowners.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).