Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Maximizing Your Furnace's Fuel Efficiency with an Automatic Vent Damper

In a time when energy prices seem to be increasingly rising, it is natural to be worried about the costs associated with operating your furnace. Fortunately, there are numerous things you can do to help keep your fuel costs down. One useful strategy is to have a heating contractor add what is known as an automatic vent damper installed in your flue. To learn more about how this component can boost your heating efficiency, read on.

Automatic Vent Damper 

The purpose of an automatic vent damper is to prevent heat from escaping your exhaust flue. This allows the heat exchanger inside of your furnace to extract a greater amount of thermal energy, which then passes on to the rooms of your home. This helps to reduce the number of times your furnace has to turn on--and thus the amount of gas it consumes in heating your home.

A Closer Look 

An automatic vent damper does not close off your flue all the time, however. If it did, poisonous exhaust gases would build up to dangerous levels inside of your furnace. Instead, an automatic vent damper is designed to only close the flue when the furnace’s burners have shut down. At all times when the furnace is running, it must remain open; in fact, a special electrical switch prevents the furnace from starting up unless the automatic vent damper is in its open position.

The moment your furnace’s burners shut down, however, the automatic vent damper closes. This helps to keep the residual heat trapped inside of the furnace for a greater period of time, thus maximizing the amount that can be passed on to your home.

We encourage you to call New England Cooling Towers, Inc with any questions or service needs you may have.

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