Natural Gas Versus Heating Oil: Which Furnace Is Best For Your New Construction Home?
If you are fortunate enough to live in an area with access to both a natural gas pipeline and heating oil delivery, then you need to decide which furnace will work the best for your new construction home. Both types of furnaces have distinctive advantages and disadvantages that you need to take into consideration when making your purchase decision.
Here is some information on both types of furnaces to help you make the best decision to meet the needs of your family:
Natural Gas Furnace Advantages
Since a natural gas furnace is connected to your home's natural gas service, there is no need for a storage tank or to pay for fuel delivery costs for this type of furnace. Additionally, natural gas furnaces are some of the highest efficiency heaters on the market today, second only to fuel oil heaters.
Natural gas furnaces do not require regular servicing and burn very cleanly, which is better for the environment.
Natural Gas Furnace Disadvantages
The only real disadvantage of natural gas furnaces is that they have a higher initial cost than oil furnaces. However, this disadvantage can be overcome through savings each year because natural gas is less expensive in most areas than heating oil is.
Heating Oil Furnace Advantages
Heating oil furnaces have the distinction of producing the highest amount of heat per BTU of fuel burned. This high-efficiency means that you will burn less fuel to create more heat - which saves you money over the long haul. Additionally, oil furnaces are often cheaper than their natural gas counterparts.
Heating Oil Furnace Disadvantages
Heating oil furnaces come with three major disadvantages:
- they require frequent oil filter changes
- they require frequent cleaning to remove soot and dirt buildup
- fuel delivery and storage are required
When you have an oil furnace in your home, then you will also be required to have a service contract with the company that delivers your heating oil. When they deliver your oil they will check the filter for clogging and will clean any built-up soot and dirt from the exhaust chimney. Your service contact will be an added expense each month over and above the cost of the fuel itself.
Also, you will pay a delivery fee for your oil, and will need to maintain an on-site storage tank.
Conclusion
Now that you can clearly see the differences between natural gas and heating oil furnaces, you can make the right choice for your home. If you have additional questions about heating and cooling your home, then you should contact a licensed HVAC contractor company like Enright and Sons.