Shopping For A New Furnace? 2 Exciting New Features You Should Look For

When you start shopping for a new furnace, it can be easy to be overwhelmed by similar-looking options. In an attempt to save time and money, you might be tempted to side with a low-end, basic model. Unfortunately, choosing the first furnace you come across might leave you with the same heater issues you have struggled with for years. Here are two exciting new features you should look for, and how they can help:

1: Air Quality Systems

If you suffer from allergies or like to minimize housework, you might be constantly looking for ways to clear the air. Unfortunately, every time you open the front door or your kids stomp through the house with muddy shoes, fine particulates like dust, pollen, and dirt can fill your breathable space.

Fortunately, furnace manufacturers have found ways to clean and sanitize your indoor air, keeping dust off of your bookshelves and pathogens away from your nose. Here are a few ways your new furnace could help you to control your air quality:  

• Media Air Cleaners: If you have ever replaced your furnace air filter, you might wonder how efficient that webbed, inch-thick filter really is. Fortunately, some systems have space for much thicker media air cleaners, which act as complex filtration systems inside of your furnace. To increase the surface area, these filters contain layers of interior pleats. In addition to lasting longer, high-efficiency media filters can trap more allergens that traditional varieties. For example, a media air filter with a MERV rating of 12 can filter as much as 95% of airborne pathogens.
• Humidifiers: Dry air can make your home arid and uncomfortable, in addition to drying out your skin and hair. Fortunately, some furnaces contain humidity control systems, so that you can customize your indoor air.
• Germicidal UV Lamps: If you really want to keep germs from swarming through your home, consider looking for a heater fitted with germicidal UV lamps. These systems use blasts of ultra violet light to destroy contaminants like mold, yeast, and viruses. In addition to making your air safer to breathe, these systems can also eradicate organisms before they can make your house smell musty. 

As you peruse the aisles of your HVAC store, try to identify your air quality goals by asking yourself a few questions. Do you have pets or allergy sufferers in your family? How often do you dust? Although air quality issues might be hard to identify if you have been living with problems for a while, taking the time to figure out what you need might help you to fend off future issues.

2: Variable Speed Controls

Traditional thermostats have one simple goal during the wintertime: turn on your furnace when the temperature dips below a certain point. Unfortunately, this outdated "stop and go" technology might mean that your system cycles on and off more frequently than it should, which can damage your equipment. To remedy this problem, HVAC manufacturers have developed furnaces with variable speed controls, which means that your system can run at partial capacity. Here are a few benefits variable speed controls can offer:

• Quiet Motors: During the winter, it can be jarring to listen to your furnace turn on and off. In addition to interrupting your baby's sleep schedule, heater noises can also make it harder to talk quietly or enjoy your favorite television show. After all, who likes to shout above the sound of those chopping fan blades? Fortunately, variable speed furnaces are designed to start up slowly, so that you don't have to deal with all the noise.
• Steady Temperatures: Instead of blasting air through your house whenever the temperature gets too low, variable speed furnaces can carefully monitor the temperature and run a little at a time. In addition to reducing your energy consumption, this constant flow of warm air can also keep your home a steady, comfortable temperature.

By investing in a cutting-edge furnace, and check out the site like one here, you might be able to breathe a little easier.