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Polar Bear Air Conditioning & Heating Inc. Blog

4 Benefits of Having a Heat Pump Over a Furnace

You’ve had a furnace for ages, but it’s no longer the best contender on the block for your home heating. Now that heat pumps are here to stay and boast incredible heating efficiency, it’s time to consider them for your next home heating solution. We have a few good reasons as to why you should.

As installers of both furnaces and heat pumps in Great Falls, VA, we’ve seen the benefits play out for our customers. If you can make the switch, here’s a handful of good reasons to do it.

Energy Efficiency Boost

Your furnace uses something called an AFUE rating, which stands for annual fuel utilization efficiency. Depending on the specific model and its efficiency, it could have an 80% to 95% AFUE rating, but a combustion-based heater can never have a 100% AFUE rating.

Heat pumps do hold a 100% rating, meaning every bit of energy that’s used in your heat pump becomes heat for your home. Heat pumps don’t experience those few percentage points of loss, which over the lifespan of an average furnace, really add up.

Saving Money on Your Bills

The ongoing argument for gas furnaces is that gas is often cheaper than electricity as a fuel source, but that all boils down to the efficiency of your heater. A heat pump can get away with using around 50% less power than a furnace, so you’re actually using less power.

It’s unlikely that your kWH rates on your electric bills are double or more than the cost of using gas in your furnace. This is the right move to make if you want to save more money every single month on your energy bills.

Lowering Your Carbon Footprint

Burning gas and sending those fumes off into the air isn’t good for the environment. If you’re interested in lowering your carbon footprint as many homeowners are, this is the way to do it. Beyond using around 50% less energy than a gas furnace, your heat pump can also run off of stored solar energy as well, making it as sustainable as possible.

Eliminates a Major, Potentially Fatal Safety Hazard

One major problem with burning gas is the byproduct of carbon monoxide–a deadly gas that is responsible for hundreds of fatalities in US homes every single year. This safety hazard isn’t something to ignore–it’s why we have dedicated detectors, after all.

Heat pumps do not produce any carbon monoxide, and as such, they’re much safer than furnaces. While a well-maintained furnace has a lower chance of the heat exchanger cracking and leaking carbon monoxide into your home, the chance is never zero. With a heat pump, it is.

Make the Jump to a Heat Pump Today

Or at the very least, talk to us so we can help guide you through the process and find out if it’s a good idea for your family. If it makes sense for your home, we’ll schedule a pre-installation appointment and move from there.

Contact us today to schedule your heat pump installation as soon as possible.

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