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Once the temperature starts to dip in September, you may well start getting flashbacks to last winter’s fuel bills. Wouldn’t it be nice to really cut back those heating bills this winter?

What is your furnace’s fuel efficiency?

As you start looking for ways to save, you have to take your furnace’s age and fuel efficiency into consideration. An older heating system, which would be anything more that 15 years old, is much less efficient than the ones that are currently on the market. For example, an oil furnace that is at least 15 years old likely has around 70% fuel efficiency. Simply put, fuel efficiency means the percentage of energy consumed by your furnace that actually gets converted into heat. In other words, an appliance operating at 70% efficiency is essentially wasting 30% of the fuel it burns. Compare this to the new natural gas systems that are currently installed in residential buildings that run at 96% fuel efficiency.

As you search for ways to save energy and money over the next heating season, replacing a low efficiency system should certainly be something to consider.

How long should you wait before replacing an oil furnace?

When does it make economic sense to replace an oil furnace? There are a number of factors you should weigh. Enbridge Gaz has a tool on its Web site that is called a fuel savings calculator, and it can help you figure out how much you could save this coming winter by opting for a more efficient heating system that runs on natural gas, which is far less expensive than fuel oil. Do the math. Even if your furnace is less than 15 years old, it may be more economical to switch now.

I encourage you to do this simple exercise. Plug the figure for the amount of fuel oil you use annually into the energy savings calculator on Enbridge Gaz’s Web site. Within seconds you will get a better idea of the tremendous annual savings you could achieve. The results might really surprise you.

Additional reading:
How long should you wait before replacing an oil furnace and its tank?
Comparing the cost of heating between different energy sources
Choosing an energy source based on its price and advantages

Published by:

Rock Chartrand
Operations supervisor