Where to Buy a Furnace | Heating System Buying Tips
Where to Buy a Furnace – Furnace 101
For many people a relaxing day of shopping involves a visit to an outlet mall or a sporting goods store but that’s not the case when a furnace is on its last leg. Instead of stopping at the food court it’s a race against Old Man Winter to find a furnace, make sure it fits in the budget, and set up an adequate delivery and installation time. Furnace shopping is definitely not a vacation, but it’s something that needs to be done. Here are some tips on where to buy a furnace.
Related: How a furnace works
Do a Personal Assessment
Before even looking into fan speeds or energy star ratings, it’s important to do a self-assessment to see if now is the right time in looking where to buy a furnace. Will you be in the home for the foreseeable future? Can the furnace be repaired instead of replaced? Should you wait until the air-conditioner dies and replace everything as one unit? These are important questions to ask just as if a new furnace will fit in the budget. Of course if the furnace is now a completely dead boat anchor or if you’re building a new house and it doesn’t yet have a furnace this assessment is pretty quick.
Know Abbreviations
One part of knowing where to buy a furnace is to get yourself accustomed to the terms associated with HVAC first. A salesperson could seem like he or she is speaking hieroglyphics if they start talking BTU (British Thermal Unit), AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency), SEER (Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating) and the like. Don’t get sold on a furnace just because it has a HPT (higher price tag).
Be Familiar With Energy Ratings
There’s an important question to ask when taking off on where to buy a furnace – is energy rating worth the extra price tag? If you live in a climate where your furnace is put to the test over a harsh Winter, you should be able to recoup the savings from buying a high-efficiency furnace. That being said if you’re lucky enough to have your furnace run sparingly over the cold months it might not be as worth it to get the highest rated furnaces (90% or above).
Know Of Any Tax Breaks or Incentives That Could Ease The Price Sting
One thing that goes along with being familiar with energy ratings is to get acquainted with any tax breaks your local Government offers for purchasing efficient appliances. It would be a travesty to miss out on $350 worth of kickbacks just by not spending an extra $50 to get a higher rated furnace.
Get Comparisons
One thing you’ll find when looking at where to buy a furnace is that many of the models have similar energy ratings or additional features offered. This is where it’s important to not only know your furnace lingo but also get comparisons from a number of dealers to make sure you’re paying a fair market price for your new system.
It may not be a visit to Bloomingdale’s but furnace shopping doesn’t have to be as bad as it sounds.
I hope you enjoyed this article on where to buy a furnace.
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