Heating Services

Electric Furnace Replacement & Installation in Greater Buffalo

An electric furnace blows air through a series of heating elements positioned just before the main supply duct.

An electric furnace heats and distributes air through a ductwork system, just like gas-fired and oil-fired furnaces do. The heating element in an electric furnace is a resistance coil that heats up as electricity passes through it. Electricity also powers the fan that distributes hot air and brings cooler air back to the furnace for reheating.

If your whole-house heating system is an electric furnace, then you're a good candidate for an upgrade to a more efficient heating system. Electric furnaces tend to be quite a bit more expensive to operate than furnaces that burn fossil fuels. And electric furnaces aren't any "greener" than oil or gas furnaces, because the electricity comes largely from gas or coal-fired power plants.

Heat pumps, which are also powered by electricity, can provide much more economical heating as well as air conditioning in summer months. Many homeowners who aren't satisfied with the performance (and operating cost) of their electric furnaces choose to have them replaced with heat pumps.

Electric room heaters

Although an electric furnace doesn't qualify as an efficient, economical central heating system, an individual room heater that operates on electricity can sometimes make sense. This type of heater relies on resistance coils to generate heat, and can be portable or permanently installed. Baseboard-type electric heaters provide warmth by radiation and convection, while other heaters use a fan to blow heated air into the living space.

Electric room heaters are often installed on enclosed porches, in spare rooms, in utility rooms and in other rooms that only require heat occasionally. As long as they don't have to operate all the time, electric room heaters don't have to take a big bite out of your energy budget.

Related Pages

• Gas Furnace
• Oil Furnace