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Last Updated: Jul 2nd, 2008 - 21:15:22 |
(NAPSI)-With the rising price of natural gas, homeowners are constantly looking for ways to cut utility costs. For many, gas furnaces are often the primary heat source. This means all of the heat in the home is coming from the gas furnace, which can get costly. Fortunately, there are options.
Outdoor air always has heat in it--even at very low outdoor temperatures. That's what makes a heat pump a logical choice: In summer, it draws heat out of your home to cool it, and in winter, it draws heat from outside air into your home to warm it.
However, when outdoor temperatures drop below freezing, it becomes more difficult for a heat pump to provide enough heat to ensure comfortable indoor temperatures. For this reason, many homeowners choose to supplement their heating system with electric resistance heaters. A Hybrid Comfort System™ couples an outdoor heat pump with a natural gas furnace for supplemental heat. This hybrid or dual-fuel system turns off the pump and turns on the furnace when the outside temperature dips below a preset level.
According to the experts at Johnson Controls, pairing a York® Affinity™ heat pump with an Affinity gas furnace offers homeowners a number of benefits, beginning with more personalized comfort. By utilizing a Hybrid Comfort System, consumers can shift the bulk of their heating requirements to the heat pump during mild winter days and rely on the furnace for the bitter cold days.
The furnace is sized to heat the home on the coldest winter days, while the heat pump operates most efficiently during mild winter days. So by pairing a heat pump with a gas furnace, the overall efficiency of the heating system is improved. The resulting benefit to the homeowner is savings on utility bills.
With two different units in place, homeowners also have the option to choose the least expensive way to heat their home, especially during a mild winter, and take advantage of utility incentives. This has the potential to offer additional savings.
In addition to improved comfort levels and increased savings, the selective use of the heat pump and the furnace helps to extend the life of each. High-efficiency York Affinity heat pumps from Johnson Controls offer Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratios (SEER) that reach up to 18. Affinity gas furnaces feature an Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) as high as 95 percent, which may qualify homeowners for additional tax credits.
For more information, visit www.yorkupg.com/affinity or call (800) 910-YORK.
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