In this article we are going to be discussing the EFFICIENCY MATH of purchasing a furnace and how duct sealing plays into your decisions.

Many customers start with the goal of “increasing their efficiency”, however, what they should be focusing on is “decreasing energy use”. In a lot of ways this is similar to the Government cutting spending or increasing taxes. For example, if there is a budget that needs to be met, they can either cut spending or increase taxes to meet it. Saving energy is like this in that if we need to lower your energy use we can either cut waste or increase efficiency.

The real kicker is that not one of us would buy a hybrid car and then run it on half inflated tires, but thousands of consumers make a similar decision every day when buying a heating system. Time and time again, they are told to increase the equipment efficiency without regard to whether the duct system is diminishing the total system efficiency through leaks to the outside.

It is a matter of simple math that no one ever explains, which scenario from below would you pick?

80% Furnace with Aeroseal Duct Sealing (Approx Cost $3500)

• ($1.00 Given to Furnace) x (Furnace Efficiency of 80%)
  = $0.80 Delivered to Ducting
• ($0.80 Delivered to Ducting) x (3% Duct Leakage After Aerosealing)
  = $0.776 Delivered Into the Home (Not bad…)

95% Furnace without Duct Sealing (Approx Cost $3500)

• ($1.00 Given to Furnace) x (Furnace Efficiency of 95%)
  = $0.95 Delivered to Ducting
• ($0.95 Delivered to Ducting) x (33% Average Duct Leakage)
  = $0.627 Delivered Into the Home (Ugh, that’s horrible.)

95% Furnace with Aeroseal Duct Sealing (Approx Cost $5000)

• ($1.00 Given to Furnace) x (Furnace Efficiency of 95%)
  = $0.95 Delivered to Ducting
• ($0.95 Delivered to Ducting) x (3% Duct Leakage After Aerosealing)
  = $0.922 Delivered Into the Home (Winning!)

The Moral of the story? It is important to buy the right things for the right reasons.

Posted by Wes Diskin