Heating System Considerations

A correctly "sized" heating system is absolutely crucial to your comfort and the efficiency of your system. An oversized system will cost you more to operate and lower your comfort.

One of the most common and most costly mistakes customers make when buying a new heating system is purchasing one that is too big for their home — The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) estimates that nearly half of all existing heating equipment is over-sized, and that this results in 20% wasted energy each year!

How does this happen? Many contractors simply replace an old system with the same size system or larger. Or they’ll make a rough, ballpark guess on how large the system should be based on the square footage of your house. Or, homeowners who want to make sure their home is warm may ask for a bigger system, thinking that “bigger is better.” But, in the case of your home heating system, bigger is not better. If your heating system is over-sized, it will overheat quickly, cool down, then overheat again. Your home will cycle between feeling too warm and too cool. This not only wastes energy, it also results in a home that is less comfortable, and it increases the wear and tear on your heating equipment, shortening it's useful life.

Selecting too small a system is just as bad -

Another common mistake is buying a new heating system that is too small to keep your home warm and comfortable. This is all too frequently caused by some contractors who may recommend a smaller, less expensive heating system so that they can underbid the competition and get the job. They look like the hero, because their price will be so much lower.  Unfortunately this creates a situation where your system will struggle to keep your house warm on the coldest winter days. Efficiency goes out the window along with your comfort. 

How can you make sure you get the heating system that is just right for your size and style of home?  At AGS Services, our experienced and highly skilled sales representatives use a combination of careful measurements and calculations to ensure that a correctly sized system is selected. This combined with carefully listening to your needs and desires, ensures that we deliver a solution that you will be happy with for many years to come.

Reliable professionals will always study your home thoroughly before giving you a proposal. If your contractor doesn't, be a wise consumer and select a new one.

The EPA states that you should “only hire a contractor who asks questions, measures windows, doors, floors, ceilings, checks insulation, calculates a cooling load, and fixes system problems that may compromise comfort and cost you money.” At AGS, we never make any system recommendations before performing a detailed analysis and completing a checklist of factors that support the recommendation. These include, but are not limited to:

• The size and style of your house
• How well insulated or airtight it is
• How much useful solar energy comes in through the windows
• The condition of ducts and/or hot water heating pipes
• Your typical thermostat settings
• The number of occupants in the home

These are some of the key components of a computerized analysis called a heating system "load calculation". This an industry standards based program and process that helps ensure that all important variables are properly calculated before a system is recommended. This information helps us determine the peak load your heating system may have to attain to keep you warm and comfortable on the coldest of days.

Once we fully understand your home, we may also ask you about the air quality and your day-to-day comfort during the heating season. Do any family members suffer from allergies or other respiratory conditions that show increased symptoms during the winter (indoor) months? We have solutions for these conditions as well that can dramatically increase your families' overall comfort during the winter months and beyond. Click here for more information on indoor air quality information and solutions.

Even the very best systems have an "achilles heel" . . . how well they're installed. Up to sixty-five percent of your new system's performance is determined by how well the complete system is designed, installed and calibrated. Improper installation can leave you with higher energy costs and a less comfortable home. Certainly not what you expect from your new system!

Service Thrust (a national industry best practices group) has found that over sixty percent of equipment failure can be traced to poor installation and a lack of proper maintenance.

At AGS, we make sure that all of the interrelated parts of your system are properly calibrated and working as they were designed to. New furnace and boiler installations always include careful system setup and efficiency tests. This is very important as factory settings on these systems are merely a starting point. The unique characteristics of your home are very likely different the the factory "model" and require careful fine tuning of the system to ensure that it delivers maximum efficiency and comfort from the first day you turn it on and begin to enjoy it.

Choosing the system that's right for you is more than just a matter of comparing initial purchase and installation costs. The operational lifetime of many modern systems is between ten and twenty years. The fuel costs to operate your heating system over it's lifetime will likely be many times the initial purchase price, so it's very important to factor expected operating costs into your buying decision. With the rapidly rising cost of all heating fuels, it's now more important than ever!

Make sure you know the energy efficiency of the system you are getting. Older, conventional furnaces or boilers can often have an energy efficiency lower than 65%. Today’s more efficient heating systems have efficiency ratings that range from 78% to 97% for forced air systems and 80% to 95% for hot water systems. That’s why upgrading to a new, more efficient system has the potential for reducing your monthly heating bills by 20-40%.

The extra money you spend for a high-efficiency model will pay you back in energy savings in a relatively short time. For example, suppose you are choosing between a unit with an efficiency rating of 78% and one with a rating of 93%. The higher-efficiency system will cost $500 more, but will probably save you, on average, about $137 each year in operating costs. So you will recover the $500 additional up front cost in less than five years.

If you are not planning to stay in the home long enough to reach the payback point, you may wish to choose a lower-priced model. But remember, a high-efficiency heating system can be a good selling point when it comes time to sell your home.

Many contractors focus on getting the sale by pricing “boxes” (equipment only) instead of offering total solutions.  But to get the heating system that is just right for your home, you have to “think outside the box” and realize that there is a lot more to your heating system than just a “box in the basement.”

So when you are getting bids from companies, don’t just get a bid for installing a new furnace or boiler.  You should also get bids on the cost of buying and installing a complete new system, including any fittings and adjustments required and any changes to the ductwork and piping, plus balancing and adjusting the whole system to work together.

It may cost more to have everything done right, but the benefits and the payback are almost always well worth it.  Remember: you are investing for the long term.  The system you finally get will affect your comfort and your heating bills every month of every winter.  Keep in mind that the contractor who offers the lowest bid may not spend the time to do a good job.