If you’re like many of the homeowners throughout the areas we serve, you are using a gas-powered furnace to heat your home and keep your family warm. A furnace is a fantastic choice–it’s powerful and cost-effective. Today’s furnaces have a much higher minimum efficiency rating than even just 10 years ago, with the highest AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency) rating for a gas furnace being 98%!
Trust us when we say that a gas furnace is a very efficient and effective heater. But you also want to rely on safety, right? And gas furnaces aren’t inherently unsafe, but if you don’t maintain yours properly, it can become dangerous.
Though more common in aging furnaces (10-15 years old), the most common culprit of “danger” in a gas furnace is a damaged heat exchanger. That said, even if you don’t have a heat exchanger problem, it’s probably a good idea to start looking at replacement options if your furnace has reached this age–it will start to suffer from other wear and tear.
In the meantime, no matter how old your furnace is, you should know what’s so important about the heat exchanger, and why a damaged one is bad news. Read on!
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