If you’re replacing a furnace, you may not have the option to choose between electric and gas. However if you’re doing a new installation you may be interested in mobile home electric furnace advantages. Perhaps the most obvious advantage is the fuel requirement, if you consider electricity a fuel. Although today’s modern gas furnaces are safe and reliable, you’re still bring a flammable gas into the house. With an electric furnace your heat comes from elements, and not the combustion of fuel.
Another advantage of a mobile home electric furnace is almost instantaneous heat. You don’t have to wait for the burner to fire up –for this reason the electric models blow warm air much faster than their gas or oil cousins. Because there is no flame, there’s no need to vent smoke outside. Along the same lines, there’s zero heat lost up the chimney. It’s also 100% efficient, compared to only 90 or 95% in the best gas models.
Probably the important item to consider is the cost of electricity versus the cost of gas in your area. We’d love to be able to give you a definitive answer on which you should choose, however rates vary wildly across the country, not to mention the fact that your climate also plays an important factors as well. In many cases gases less expensive than electric. We recommend you find a good HVAC contractor in your area and make some phone calls. Generally speaking, talking to three contractors should give you a good idea about what the best system is in your area. Many contractors already have software programs that will calculate how expensive a particular furnace is based upon the cost of electricity in the area and the efficiency of that particular mobile home electric furnace.
Now be a good time to mention how important is to get a correctly sized furnace. If you choose a furnace that is too small, it won’t be able to heat your house effectively. On the opposite side of the spectrum, choosing the furnace that is too large will cost more to purchase, and cycle on an off more frequently, wearing out components sooner. To correctly size your furnace, your contractor will use the Manual J HVAC Residential Load Calculation- this is not something you want to guess on.
As you can see there are many mobile home electric furnaces advantages, however there are also a few disadvantages as well. Be sure to do your research and you’ll have no trouble selecting the best furnace for your home.