Blog Phase 3

Article 1:HVAC market shifts to heat pumps. (2006). Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News, 229(17), 13-14. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.hacc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/196476294?accountid=11302
Summary                This article talks mainly about the disadvantages to gas and electric heat and the advantages of heat pumps, as well as discussing heat pump sales and popularity. Heat pump sales increased significantly in the recent years and will likely continue to grow for a few main reasons. Increased (and fluctuating) fuel costs as well as high electricity costs make heat pumps a more ideal choice for heating source because they typically remain at a fairly steady cost.  Improved efficiencies of heat pumps and certain inavailability of gas lines are other reasons why heat pumps are becoming a more and more popular source of heat. Heat pumps are also expected to post the better gains in the residential side than any other form of heating.

Article 2:B, C. (2009). Modulating furnaces intrigue customers. Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News, 236(12), 7-8. Retrieved from https://ezproxy.hacc.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/196482712?accountid=11302
SummaryThis article focused closely on the benefits and future growth of modulating gas furnaces. With these types of furnaces, comfort is improved because the heat output is greater in a shorter amount of time, so the furnaces don’t run for long amounts of time. Running for shorter periods raises comfort because the heat can be produced very quickly by running the gas burners and the heat output is very high. So even though the furnace is fluctuating on and off, the heat is still present even when it isn’t running. This is efficient because in a heat pump for example, the motors have to run for a longer amount of time to produce a large amount of heat which requires more energy than a modulating gas system. All heating sources use fans which require a particular amount of electricity, but in a modulating furnace, the fans do not run as much which greatly increases efficiency. The payback of installing a gas furnace typically takes about five years, even in a region where the weather tends to be more bitter. The market for gas furnaces is also projected to grow dramatically as more high-end furnaces are produced.

I chose these two sources because they both defend, support, and inform us of different methods of heating. Before digging too deep into the geographical aspect (specific to the Northeastern US) specifically, I wanted to find some sources that give advantages of a few different kinds of heat. I want to have a good knowledge of the benefits and limitations of gas heat and a few other forms of heat before I try to apply it to our area. One said heat pump sales are going up because they are the best source of heat, while the other said modulating natural gas furnaces are the best. What I noticed and found very interesting about both of these articles was that they really didn’t give any limitations to the type of heat they were defending. They talked a lot about the efficiency and other benefits, but didn’t really mention the limitations, which I know both have. These two articles did a good job of making the topic they were discussing and defending understandable and sound great, but somewhere they should have at least mentioned some limitations or done a little more to compare them to other forms of heat. Heat pumps, for example, typically have minimum and maximum efficiency operating temperatures, which means that below or above certain temperatures, they become much less efficient than the manufacturer meant for them to be. This obviously could make them a less of an option for certain people depending on the climate of their area. This would be something I would like to know if I were researching heat pumps and I knew nothing about them.

After doing the research I’ve done, I feel like I already have learned a lot more about gas heat. Also after searching for articles, there’s a lot more to consider about gas heat than I realized before, such as location in relation to gas lines and how fast you can make your installation money back just by using gas heat in your home. Doing more research has also caused me to consider more questions about where gas heat will be in the future and what gas prices are predicted to do. I also plan on finding out what kinds of limitations gas furnaces have. What I hope to learn next is much more about limitations of gas heating and other forms of heat as well as learning more about installation costs vs. long term costs. I may also begin to look at the Northeast region and specifically how the climate will affect the availability, limitations, and efficiency of gas heat.