Natural gas is the most common fuel used for furnaces in the Lower Mainland. Other then the brand there are a few basic features that dictate your furnaces performance and how they are priced.

Mid Efficient Furnaces exhaust combustion gases fast and hot so the gases will exit the chimney flue before cooling and condensing. As a result, the furnace heat exchanger does not collect as much heat from the fuel combustion process as possible.

High Efficient Furnaces or Condensing furnaces capture heat even after the combustion exhaust gases have “cooled” and condensed. They do this by using two heat exchangers, one for primary heat exchange and the other to handle the corrosive condensed exhaust gases of water and carbon dioxide (which form carbonic acid). The exhaust gases are depleted of heat until the water condensate drips out of the furnace’s heat exchanger and the flue gases escape from a plastic PVC pipe instead of a chimney.

High Efficient Furnaces have an AFUE of over 90 %. AFUE means Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency and it measures the amount of fuel converted to heat in the space in proportion to the amount of fuel which enters the furnace— ie what is used compared to what is sent out the gas flue.

Main furnace types break down further according to the operation of the burner and blower. A single stage furnace is the least expensive and means the burner and blower has one “on” stage. A two stage furnace has electronic controls that allows the burner flame and burner to be on at a high and a low setting, depending on the level of heat required. A variable speed blower motor that allows very fine adjustments to the blower depending on the resistance provided by the ducting. A modulating burner allows for fine differences in the burner and modulates them to always keep the temperature of the room very close to the thermostat setting.