How To | Buy A Furnace

His first mistake was panic-calling the first number on a fridge magnet. The technician arrived, looked at the old unit for three minutes, and quoted a price that sounded like the down payment on a boat. Mark thanked him and decided to do some homework.

Finally, he looked for Between local utility companies and federal tax credits for high-efficiency models, he managed to shave nearly a thousand dollars off the final bill. how to buy a furnace

He realized then that he didn't actually know how to buy a furnace. He just knew he wanted to be warm again. His first mistake was panic-calling the first number

Mark didn’t realize how much he loved his furnace until it died on a Tuesday in January. One minute, he was sipping coffee in a cozy 70-degree living room; the next, he was seeing his own breath while wearing a parka at the kitchen table. Finally, he looked for Between local utility companies

Step two was the Mark found out that a 95% AFUE rating meant 95 cents of every dollar spent on gas actually turned into heat. His old dinosaur was probably at 60%. The higher the rating, the higher the upfront cost, but the lower the monthly "pain" in his bank account.

Step one, he learned, was He shouldn't just buy the same size as his old unit—technology had changed. A professional came by and calculated the square footage, window insulation, and ceiling height. It turned out his old furnace was actually too big, which meant it was "short-cycling"—turning on and off so fast it was wearing itself out and spiking his bills.