Heat exchangers are an essential part of any furnace. Put simply, they work by heating and transferring warm air from your furnace to your home. They're typically made out of some type of metal, and work by separating the air from the heat source in the furnace.
Sometimes they will crack, either because they have been installed improperly, damaged during shipping or from running the furnace at higher temperatures than it can handle.
A cracked heat exchanger in a gas furnace can be extremely dangerous and should be fixed immediately. The main risk is carbon monoxide, which can get into the air in your furnace and can be pumped throughout your home. Colourless and odourless, carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that can be a silent killer.
You should have your gas furnace inspected regularly. Homeowners should also watch for any changes in the colour or activity of the flame in your furnace's blower. If it changes colour or flickers unusually it could be an indication that there is a crack in your heat exchanger.
In choosing a furnace, you should consider the type of heat exchanger as there are several brands to choose from.
The most well-known are Goodman, Rheem, Amana and Carrier.
Owned by United Technologies Corp., which also owns Pratt & Whitney and Sikorsky, Carrier is the largest manufacturer of heating and air conditioning systems in the world.
Carrier furnaces use both stainless steel and aluminized steel heat exchangers, which are covered by a limited lifetime warranty, and have an Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) Rating of up to 96 per cent and above.
The AFUE rating tells you how much energy in your furnace is actually being converted into heat. So an AFUE rating of 96 means 96 per cent of the money you spend running your furnace goes to heating your home, while the rest escapes as exhaust. The industry minimum standard is 78 per cent.
The second-largest manufacturer of HVAC systems is Goodman, based out of Houston, Texas. The company boasts a lifetime warranty on its dual-diameter tubular heat exchangers and an AFUE rating of up to 95 per cent.
Goodman also manufactures Amana brand furnaces after acquiring the company several years ago. Amana furnaces offer a similar dual-diameter tubular heat exchanger and lifetime warranty, along with 95 per cent AFUE rating.
Owned by Paloma Industries of Nagoya, Japan, Rheem's most advanced gas furnace uses two heat exchanges to capture hot vent gasses and use them to pre-heat household air. Its furnaces come with an AFUE rating up to 95 per cent and a limited lifetime warranty on heat exchangers.
Whatever brand you choose, make sure you use a qualified company to install the system, as installation is a key component to ensuring your HVAC system works properly and doesn't cost you money in lost energy. A system that has been improperly installed is one of the main reasons why your heat exchanger may crack.
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