Gas Furnace vs. Electric Furnace: Is There a Difference When It Comes to Your Home Comfort?

One of the top considerations when selecting a furnace for your home is how well it can produce heating results. We talk a lot about efficiency and keeping energy costs down, but it is equally important to have a furnace that can meet your home comfort needs.

It’s no fun dealing with a heater that cannot keep up with your heating expectations. You can schedule furnace service in Layton for our team to complete an in-home assessment and talk to you about both gas and electric furnaces. You can also keep reading to learn more about the differences between gas and electric furnaces when it comes to keeping your home comfortable this winter.

Gas Furnace Operation

Gas furnaces are known to be more efficient at heating up homes. Gas furnaces are able to produce heat much faster compared to electric furnaces, meaning that they can heat your home up in less time and maintain the temperature with greater consistency. 

This is largely due to the combustion process. A gas furnace releases gas fumes into an airtight chamber where a flame ignites to create heat quickly and transfer it into air that blows into your home. This method of heating isn’t just great for comfort. It also translates into lower energy costs. Still, overall efficiency can depend greatly on what type of gas furnace you invest in. Each furnace has an AFUE rating, and the higher this rating is, the more efficient your gas (or electric) furnace will be. 

For example, buying a bottom-of-the-line gas furnace may not offer the same efficiency as a top-of-the-line electric furnace. We encourage you to do your homework and enlist the help of our expert professionals in selecting a just-right furnace for your home, whether it’s gas or electric. 

Electric Furnace Operation

Electric furnaces use coils and burners to transfer heat into the air instead of the combustion process that you find in a gas furnace. Electric furnaces can take longer to heat up, resulting in a longer time that it takes to transfer warmth into your home during a heating cycle. 

Electric furnaces may be a better choice for your home if you do not already have gas lines installed. Investing in gas line installation can significantly increase the installation cost of a gas furnace, making an electric furnace the more economical choice.

Energy Efficiency Considerations

When you compare electric furnace operation to gas furnace operation, there are some key differences. Electric furnaces are considered 100% energy efficient because all of the energy used goes directly into producing heat for your home. Gas furnaces do lose some energy in the combustion process. 

Still, electric furnaces are more expensive to operate because they require more energy overall to produce heat. Even though a gas furnace is losing some of its energy in the combustion process, it is still efficient enough to cost less for month-to-month operation.