Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning

Heating System At Lakewood all of our homes are heated with a forced air heating system. A central furnace burns natural gas to heat air that is circulated throughout the house by a system of metal ducts. This heated air is replaced by cooler air that returns to the furnace through cold air returns located in specific rooms. All combustion fumes are vented through a flue or chimney that is separate from the duct system. The furnace has been sized for the size of the house. That is, not too small where it needs to run all the time and does not generate sufficient heat to meet specifications, yet not oversized where it pushes too much air through the system and turns on and off too quickly. In addition, the system must be balanced by adjusting register dampers in each room to balance the distribution of heat and the system damper. Finally, the thermostat needs to be functioning properly and located in the correct location.

A furnace is rated by something called combustion efficiency, the percentage of heat actually produced compared with the heat potential in the fuel. The efficiency of most gas furnaces installed twenty or so years ago is between fifty and sixty-five percent. Today, furnaces have a minimum rating of approximately 80% and can range as high as 95% or more. With the recent price increases of natural gas the payoff for these higher efficiency furnaces is improving. The higher efficiency is engineered by an improved heat exchanger on the highest efficiency furnaces. A flue damper, which closes the flue pipe to the outside choking off cold air entering and existing warm air escaping is added.

How Heat is Distributed
A forced air system blows heated air from the furnace to the living area through a system of supply ducts to room registers. The opening of these registers can usually be regulated by small levers that increase or decrease the amount of heat flowing into a room while the furnace is running. A completely separate set of ducts returns the air from the living space to the furnace. These are called cold air returns. The furnace filter is a part of the furnace which keeps dust, soot and airborne grime to a minimum as it blows through the living areas. It is important that the filters are changed regularly to keep the system running properly.