Did you know that almost half of the homes in the United States of America use a natural gas furnace to provide heat? There are a number of key furnace parts that work together to provide your home with the heat it needs during the colder months of the year.
These parts create warm air that gets sent throughout your home using ducts. This is true no matter if you have an electric furnace, an oil furnace, or a gas furnace. While you should always get help from a trained professional when it comes to furnace maintenance, it is still smart to know the furnace parts that keep your furnace running.
The good news is that you’ve come to the right place to learn more about furnace parts and the function that they provide. Keep reading this article for more.
Heat Exchanger
One of the most important furnace parts in any furnace is the heat exchanger. The heat exchanger makes up a large portion of the area that houses the furnace as a whole. It works by absorbing the cool air around the furnace and then turning it into hot air. This process gets started when you change the temperature on your home’s thermostat.
Once you turn the heat up on your thermostat you’ll notice that your furnace kicks on and starts producing warm air for you to enjoy on those cold and chilly winter days. The key component in getting this process started is the heat exchanger. Most heat exchangers are made of strong stainless steel parts that are meant to handle high temperatures in a safe manner.
They’re designed to avoid melting or cracking due to the high temperatures they’re surrounded by. There are even some heat exchangers that are designed in a way that allows cool air into the exchanger to speed up the process of creating a comfortable temperature inside your home.
One thing to look out for with your home’s heat exchanger is a possible carbon monoxide leak. If you or your household starts to experience headaches and nausea then it is possible that you have a leak in your heat exchanger.
Blower Motor
Your HVAC system works by sending the heated air through ducts in your home that direct the air into certain rooms. The ducts are great but they need something to help send that heated air on its way. Once your heat exchanger gets done with its job, the blower motor kicks on and starts sending that heated air throughout your home.
Your home’s furnace is designed in a way that allows for the blower motor to move all of the heated air through the ducts before the combustion shuts off. This ensures that you don’t have any wasted energy or hot air. Some furnaces have blower motors with different settings. This is great because it allows you to set the speed at which the air comes through the ducts.
Combustion Chamber
One important part of an oil furnace or a natural gas furnace is the combustion chamber. This is where the combustible materials are burnt to create the heat and the energy needed to heat your home on those long winter nights. In order to create the right conditions for combustion, your combustion chamber needs to allow some oxygen in to mix with the gas or oil.
If your home has a gas furnace then your heating process won’t start until oxygen gets to mix with the gas to create heat. Once that happens, a pilot light will kick on to create combustion. From there, this small and controlled fire burns to produce the heat that your family wants in order to stay warm and cozy.
There are different furnaces that use different parts so you need to know how your furnace works. Some furnaces have electronic ignition in the form of a glow stick to ignite the fire. Others have the aforementioned pilot light that gets the fire started.
If you purchase a newer HVAC/Furnace then it is possible that your furnace has two separate combustion chambers. The second combustion chamber works by capturing the carbon monoxide that your furnace creates. It then burns that to create more heat in an energy-efficient manner for your home.
Thermostat
Arguably the most important part of your furnace parts is the thermostat. This piece of technology has sensors that help to measure the temperature in your home. Some homes have multiple thermostats for different floors or different rooms for ultimate comfort. The thermostat also has controls that allow you and the members of your household to adjust the temperature.
This furnace part is connected to your furnace using special wires that run throughout your home to your furnace’s location. The most ideal location for your furnace is in the central part of your home. You don’t want to put your thermostat in areas that are stuffy and collect heat because the rest of your home won’t get the right amount of heat.
Using a zone thermostat system is a great way to heat your home to appropriate levels while also saving money on energy bills. It allows for you to make sure that the parts of your home where you spend the most time get the heat that they need.
There are also thermostats that you can customize and set timers on that will cause the thermostat and furnace to kick on at certain times. This is great if you want to make sure that your kitchen and main level of your home are warm for you when you first wake up in the morning.
Now You Know the Most Important Furnace Parts
Knowing your furnace parts is important for getting furnace maintenance and preventing an expensive furnace repair. It also gives you a better understanding of how your furnace works and the different types of furnaces you can invest in to improve your home’s efficiency. Getting a furnace with two combustion chambers is a great option for a household that wants to conserve energy.
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