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If you have a boiler in your home, you need to know what AFUE is and how it can make you aware of your home’s energy consumption. AFUE, or annual fuel utilization efficiency, measures how efficient an appliance is in its energy use during a typical year. Highly efficient boilers have an AFUE rating of 90 percent to 97 percent, while the minimum allowed AFUE rating for a fossil-fueled boiler is 80 percent and for a gas-fueled steam boiler is 75 percent. What do these percentages mean? An AFUE rating of 97 percent means that 97 percent of the energy in the boiler’s fuel becomes heat for the home and the remaining 3 percent escapes through the chimney and other places in your home. For a boiler with an AFUE rating of 75 percent, 25 percent of the energy used — and paid for — is wasted. Simply put, a high AFUE rating indicates a highly efficient boiler. The type of boiler, condensing or non-condensing, affects its AFUE rating. A boiler that condenses the water vapor it produces during the combustion process and uses the resulting heat usually has a higher AFUE rating than a non-condensing boiler. A condensing boiler may cost more to purchase but will have lower energy costs over the life of the system. The experts at Pipe Works Services can answer any questions you might have about boilers and AFUE ratings. Contact us today for an expert consultation or to make an appointment. Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about boilers and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide. Pipe Works Services serves Chatham, NJ, and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!
