Frequently Asked Heating & Air Questions

They are good for only one room and then only the fan forced units. For more information see Consumer Reports February 2002 where they tested 16 different air purifiers, or a second article in October 2003. Honeywell produces whole house air cleaners that are far easier to care for than stand alone units. These systems work with your existing furnace and duct work. They are very high efficiency and will work with most existing systems. For more information you can contact our store.

BTU stands for British Thermal Unit and by definition is the amount of energy it takes to change one pound of water one degree. It is a measure of heat content of an appliance. The more BTUs the higher the available heat. Btu’s are commonly used to give a rating of size to many different appliances including furnaces, air conditioners, barbeque grills, fireplaces, etc.
When you are looking at appliances, BTUs are important, because they tell us how much heat is available for our use. Low BTUs in grills for instance, means poor cooking performance. Some grills have all the flash but no real cooking ability which leads to our dissatisfaction. Low BTUs in fireplaces means small flames. Small flames mean low heat output and low romance factor. BTUs in some appliances must be derated by the efficiency of the appliance. For example, in a furnace that is 92% efficient you only get 92% of the heat produced by that appliance. That’s why having the furnace and air conditioner properly sized is so important. No guessing allowed! If your furnace is too small you’ll be cold and if its to big you’ll be hot when its on and cold when its off. Cooling units won’t keep up if they are too small or will not do proper humidity control if they are too big. You want it cool and dry, not cold and clammy.