Is It Time To Upgrade Your Old Gas Furnace? Here Are 4 Reasons You May Want To Switch To Electric Instead

If you have an older gas furnace that needs replacement, you may be wondering if it's better to stay with gas or to switch to electric. Electric furnaces tend to cost more to operate than gas ones, simply owing to the fact that electricity is more expensive than natural gas. However, they provide a number of advantages that can offset the increased cost. If you're thinking about replacing your old gas furnace, read on to learn four reasons why you may want to consider switching to electric.

1. Safer Than Using Gas Lines

When homeowners switch from gas to electric, safety concerns are typically the reason behind the switch. Malfunctioning gas furnaces can release carbon monoxide into your home, which can cause health problems. In high concentrations, it can be fatal. In addition to the carbon monoxide risk, gas furnaces also carry the risk of starting fires or causing explosions due to a gas line leak.

It's important to note that modern gas furnaces are very safe. As long as you install carbon monoxide detectors in your home and have your furnace inspected every year by an HVAC technician, you'll minimize the danger. However, switching to an electric furnace is the only way to completely eliminate the risk.

2. Friendlier for the Environment

Gas furnaces burn fossil fuels in order to heat your home, and there's no way around it. If you're concerned about carbon emissions, then you may want to consider switching to an electric furnace in order to reduce your carbon footprint.

The effectiveness of this switch depends on how much of your home's electricity comes from renewable energy sources. If your city is partially powered by hydroelectric or solar power, then you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint by installing an electric furnace. However, if your electricity company uses coal or natural gas to generate electricity, the switch won't be a very useful one — you're just offloading carbon emissions from your home to the utility company. Before you commit to the switch, make sure at least a portion of your home's electricity comes from a reusable source.

3. Less Expensive to Install

Electric furnaces are significantly less expensive than gas furnaces, and this is especially true when compared to high-efficiency condensing furnaces. Condensing furnaces have multiple heat exchangers, and this allows the furnace to extract as much heat from the combustion process as possible. They're complicated to manufacture and install, so they carry quite a high price tag. Electric furnaces with comparable energy efficiency are much cheaper in comparison. If you need to upgrade an aging furnace and are on a budget, an electric furnace will be a much better fit for your financial situation.

4. Easier to Maintain

Finally, the fact that gas furnaces are more complex than electric furnaces means that they have higher maintenance requirements. When you own a gas furnace, it's vital to have it inspected at least once a year. This ensures that the furnace is safe to operate and that there aren't any easily fixable problems that could result in high repair bills in the future. It's still a good idea to have an electric furnace inspected annually, but it's not an absolute requirement. The design of an electric furnace is much simpler in comparison, which lends itself to less mechanical issues.

Overall, switching from a gas furnace to an electric one is mostly done out of concern for safety. However, you'll also reduce maintenance requirements for your heating system while paying less for furnace installation compared to sticking with gas. Whichever one you choose, you can expect lower energy bills as a result — both gas and electric furnaces have made great gains in energy efficiency over the past two decades, so either will be a gigantic upgrade over the aging furnace you currently have.

For more information, contact a furnace installation service in your area.