Why Are Gas Furnaces So Common for Home Heating?

Why Are Gas Furnaces So Common for Home Heating?

Today’s homes can have many different types of heating systems warming them: heat pumps, boilers, ductless mini splits, electric furnaces, and radiant in-floor heating. But the gas furnace is still the heating king, found in millions of home from the midnight sun regions of Alaska to the palm-dotted beaches of Florida—as well as here in the dry deserts of Southern California. What makes this type of residential heater so common?

There are benefits to all of the systems we listed above. Finding the one to meet a home’s comfort needs can be thorny, and this is why it’s necessary to have the assistance of HVAC professionals when it come to a new heating installation. The gas furnace, however, has a long list of benefits that often give it a leading edge. Here are some of them:

Energy savings

Natural gas is a less costly energy source than electricity or propane. A home using natural gas for heat rather than electricity will have much lower utility bills.

High efficiency

Few types of heaters are more efficient at delivering heat to a home than a natural gas furnace. It’s easier to have an even spread of heat around a house with a gas furnace doing the work. The lag time for electric furnaces is much longer; with a gas furnace, you won’t have to wait for the comfort you want.

Great heat output

Natural gas furnaces can put out higher amounts of heat than almost any other type of comfort system. This is why you’ll find gas furnaces in parts of the country that have the coldest winters. But this high heat output serves a purpose in our warmer climate: it can keep the draftiest house warm in the winter.

Flexibility

It’s easy to integrate gas furnaces into HVAC systems and pair them with air conditioners. There’s usually no need to change any connected appliances when a gas furnace is put in.

Safety

You might find this one a bit curious. Aren’t gas furnaces potentially hazardous? Yes—but safety standards are so strict today that there’s little danger. In fact, natural gas burns cleaner than other heating fuels and this means fewer harmful emissions. When furnaces receive routine annual maintenance, they are among the safest options for home heating.

We need to emphasize again that when it comes to options for home heating in La Quinta, CA and elsewhere in the desert area we serve, there isn’t a single system that works for every house and family. The benefits we listed above make gas furnaces sound like the best pick—and in many cases they are.

But even gas furnaces have some drawbacks. The main one is that they don’t work in homes without a gas connection! If you have an all-electric home, we recommend looking into comfort options like a heat pump, which is an efficient heater and air conditioner in one. Our technicians are glad to help narrow down the range of choices so you end up with the right heat system to match your comfort needs and budget.

Russell’s Heating & Air Conditioning provides the Inland Empire and the Desert community with superb HVAC services.