Condensing Gas Furnaces

                                                          


Condensing gas furnaces are the highest efficiency furnaces presently on the market. If you are building a new home or replacing the old furnace in your present house these high efficiency natural gas furnaces are your wisest choice. They are simply the best  furnace to use in all homes with natural gas heating.

The reason for choosing a condensing gas furnace is mainly because of  the extremely high AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilisation Efficiency) which runs  from 90 to as much as 97 percent (in some cases a little higher). Old furnaces made in past decades will be found to have AFUEs of 60 percent or even less and medium efficiency  gas furnaces made at present have AFUEs of 78 to 84 percent.

It is easy to see that a high efficiency natural gas furnace will consume as much as 20% less fuel in normal operation. This results in a substantial saving in fuel costs which over a relatively short period of time will pay for the somewhat higher initial price of the more efficient furnace. On average a medium efficiency gas furnace costs about $1000 less than a high efficiency model.

Modern condensing gas furnaces use, approximately 33 to 40 percent less fuel than old furnaces and 10 to 20 percent less than medium efficiency units made at present. This not only reduces fuel bills substantially but as a bonus also cuts down drastically on  toxic environmental emissions which are thought to be at least partially responsible for environmental pollution and climate change.

The somewhat higher cost of purchasing a new condensing gas furnace will easily be recovered, in a relatively short period of time, through fuel savings.The savings will then go directly into the pocket of the consumer throughout the life of the appliance. An average homeowner with an old model furnace might save $300 a year, or even more, by installing a 97% efficiency condensing gas furnace.

Condensing gas furnaces are made in a variety of sizes to suit any type of home. They new furnace can usually be placed in the same spot as the old furnace it is replacing, and will typically use the same heat  duct-work. All furnaces must of course be installed by licensed gas installation technicians. It is very unwise to have an unlicensed do it your-selfer install your furnace. In many places it is illegal to do so, and could also result in your insurance company refusing to pay claims if there is a fire. For more information about condensing gas furnaces click here

                                                                 

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Continue To Climb

                                               







It is essential for all countries to reduce their greenhouse gas production in order to prevent the disastrous effects of global warming and climate change. Unfortunately greenhouse gas emissions continue their upward climb annually and agreements such as the Kyoto Protocol have had little effect on this continuing increase. Use of high efficiency gas furnaces and elimination of coal burning power plants would greatly reduce greenhouse gas production. Here are figures for the top greenhouse gas emitters as listed by Wikipedia: 


List of countries by 2010 emissions estimates

CDIAC released preliminary 2010 estimates for a limited number of countries. Following table is listing annual CO2 emissions estimates (in thousands of CO2 metric tonnes) from these estimates for top emitting countries.
Country CO2 emissions[14] Area (in km2) Population Emission / km2 Emission / Person
 World 33,508,901 148,940,000 6,852,472,823 2,250 49
 China 8,240,958 9,640,821 1,339,724,852 8,548 62
 United States 5,492,170 9,826,675 312,793,000 5,589 176
 India  2,069,738 3,287,263 1,210,193,422 6,296 17
 Russia   1,688,688 17,075,400 142,946,800 989 118
 Japan   1,138,432 377,944 128,056,026 30,122 89
 Germany    762,543 357,021 81,799,600 21,358 93
 Iran 574,667 1,648,195 75,330,000 3,487 76
 South Korea 563,126 100,210 48,875,000 56,195 115
 Canada 518,475 9,984,670 34,685,000 519 149
 Saudi Arabia 493,726 2,149,690 27,136,977 2,297 182
 United Kingdom 493,158 243,610 62,262,000 20,244 79
 Indonesia 476,557 1,919,440 237,424,363 2,483 20
 Mexico 466,131 1,972,550 112,322,757 2,363 41
 South Africa 451,839 1,221,037 50,586,757 3,700 89
 Brazil 419 537 8,514,877 190,732,694 493 22
 Italy 407 924 301,338 60,681,514 13,537 67
 Australia 365 513 7,617,930 22,794,166 480 160
 France 362 556 674,843 65,821,885 5,372 55
 Poland 309 985 312,685 38,186,860 9,914 81

 The above list is reproduced from Wikipedia

The major offenders are China and The USA which between them produce more than two thirds of the world greenhouse gas emissions.Unfortunately neither of these countries has entered into any agreement to reduce such emissions. Until China and the USA are prepared to reduce significantly their production of greenhouse gases any efforts by other nations will have very limited effect.
For more information about high efficiency furnaces check out gas furnace prices

Why Is A High Efficiency Furnace Important?

                                                          




High efficiency furnaces convert more than 90% of the fuel burnt in them into actual heat for the home. This means that these furnaces will burn 35% to 50% less fuel than older furnaces of 60% or lower efficiency. Obviously the fuel bill for these furnaces is much lower than for the old low efficiency furnaces. Not only that but the high efficiency furnace reduces greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere by up to 50% also. This is extremely important since these gases are believed to be responsible at least in part for climate change and global warming. The USA is at present the worlds second highest contributor (just behind China) to greenhouse gas emissions. Here is some data from  Wikipedia  on the subject.

Since about 1750 human activity has increased the concentration of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Measured atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are currently 100 ppm higher than pre-industrial levels.[40] Natural sources of carbon dioxide are more than 20 times greater than sources due to human activity,[41] but over periods longer than a few years natural sources are closely balanced by natural sinks, mainly photosynthesis of carbon compounds by plants and marine plankton. As a result of this balance, the atmospheric mole fraction of carbon dioxide remained between 260 and 280 parts per million for the 10,000 years between the end of the last glacial maximum and the start of the industrial era.[42]
It is likely that anthropogenic warming, such as that due to elevated greenhouse gas levels, has had a discernible influence on many physical and biological systems. Warming is projected to affect various issues such as freshwater resources, industry, food and health.[43]
The main sources of greenhouse gases due to human activity are:
burning of fossil fuels and deforestation leading to higher carbon dioxide concentrations in the air. Land use change (mainly deforestation in the tropics) account for up to one third of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions.[42]
livestock enteric fermentation and manure management,[44] paddy rice farming, land use and wetland changes, pipeline losses, and covered vented landfill emissions leading to higher methane atmospheric concentrations. Many of the newer style fully vented septic systems that enhance and target the fermentation process also are sources of atmospheric methane.
use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in refrigeration systems, and use of CFCs and halons in fire suppression systems and manufacturing processes.
agricultural activities, including the use of fertilizers, that lead to higher nitrous oxide (N2O) concentrations.
The seven sources of CO2 from fossil fuel combustion are (with percentage contributions for 2000–2004):[45]


Seven main fossil fuel
combustion sources Contribution(%)


Liquid fuels (e.g., gasoline, fuel oil) 36 %
Solid fuels (e.g., coal) 35 %
Gaseous fuels (e.g., natural gas) 20 %
Cement production 3 %
Flaring gas industrially and at wells < 1 %
Non-fuel hydrocarbons < 1 %
"International bunker fuels" of transport
not included in national inventories 4 %
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranks the major greenhouse gas contributing end-user sectors in the following order: industrial, transportation, residential, commercial and agricultural.[46] Major sources of an individual's greenhouse gas include home heating and cooling, electricity consumption, and transportation. Corresponding conservation measures are improving home building insulation, installing geothermal heat pumps and compact fluorescent lamps, and choosing energy-efficient vehicles.
Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and three groups of fluorinated gases (sulfur hexafluoride, HFCs, and PFCs) are the major greenhouse gases and the subject of the Kyoto Protocol, which came into force in 2005.[47]
Although CFCs are greenhouse gases, they are regulated by the Montreal Protocol, which was motivated by CFCs' contribution to ozone depletion rather than by their contribution to global warming. Note that ozone depletion has only a minor role in greenhouse warming though the two processes often are confused in the media.
On December 7, 2009, the US Environmental Protection Agency released its final findings on greenhouse gases, declaring that "greenhouse gases (GHGs) threaten the public health and welfare of the American people". The finding applied to the same "six key well-mixed greenhouse gases" named in the Kyoto Protocol: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride.[48][49]


Top emitters
In 2005, the world's top-20 emitters comprised 80% of total GHG emissions (PBL, 2010. See notes for the following table).[78] Tabulated below are the top-5 emitters for the year 2005 (MNP, 2007).[79] The second column is the country's or region's share of the global total of annual emissions. The third column is the country's or region's average annual per capita emissions, in tonnes of GHG per head of population:


Top-5 emitters for the year 2005


Country or region % of global total
annual emissions Tonnes of GHG
per capita


China (b) 17 %  5.8
United States (a) 16 % 24.1
European Union-27 (a) 11 % 10.6
Indonesia (c)  6 % 12.9
India  5 %  2.1
Table footnotes:
These values are for the GHG emissions from fossil fuel use and cement production. Calculations are for carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and gases containing fluorine (the F-gases HFCs, PFCs and SF6).
These estimates are subject to large uncertainties regarding CO2 emissions from deforestation; and the per country emissions of other GHGs (e.g., methane). There are also other large uncertainties which mean that small differences between countries are not significant. CO2 emissions from the decay of remaining biomass after biomass burning/deforestation are not included.
a Industrialised countries: official country data reported to UNFCCC.
b Excluding underground fires.
c Including an estimate of 2000 million tonnes CO2 from peat fires and decomposition of peat soils after draining. However, the uncertainty range is very large.

The above material is quoted from Wikipedia

The above figures clearly indicate that China, the USA and India must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to stabilize climate change and avoid disastrous global warming. Unfortunately all three countries refuse to participate in international agreements to reduce emissions.This makes it all the more important for individual consumers to reduce their emissions as much as possible. Installation of a high efficiency furnace is a good start to this. Go to our website at  gas furnace costs  for more information and also at
   high efficiency furnaces.