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According to HVAC.com, a company that use of natural gas lowers the amount of
connects homeowners with local contractors,
of all fossil fuels, natural gas is the cleanest op- greenhouse gases and carbon emitted
tion. Use of natural gas lowers the amount of
greenhouse gases and carbon emitted by your by your household, generating less
household, generating less carbon dioxide carbon dioxide than other heating fuels.
than other heating fuels: 45% less than coal,
30% less than oil and 15% less than wood. Not — HvaC.com Greenhouse
only is natural gas cleaner, it also makes you Gases
feel more comfortable. Compared to electric
heating, a gas furnace can produce air temperatures up to 25 degrees home that need a heating boost and room additions. These units
warmer. The average temperature produced by a gas heating sys- are fairly small and can be mounted on a wall or baseboard units.
tem delivered to your living spaces is around 130 degrees. And, gas They can be sized to heat one or more rooms, and are often directly
heating systems have efficiencies as high as 97% while the highest vented to the outside using conventional chimneys or flue vents, but
efficiency for an oil furnace is 87%. unvented models are also available.
For more info on space heaters, visit empirezoneheat.com.
a sizE For EvEry sPaCE Regardless of the size, style or solution of the natural gas space
Don’t need to heat the entire house? Natural gas space heaters heater you choose, one thing is for certain — no matter where one
are a good choice for rooms that are not often used, areas of a lives in the country, warm days and nights are forecast for this winter. n

CoNvErTiNG To ComForT: sWiTCHiNG To NaTuraL Gas is as Easy as 123.

ProPaNE To Gas one-half of the cost of propane, so homeowners should
If a home is currently using propane, the conver- see a decrease in their home heating costs.
sion to natural gas can be very simple. There is a high Regardless of which conversion is being considered,
probability that the existing equipment can still be Furnacecompare.com advises homeowners to seek po-
used and can easily be converted to natural gas. And, tential money-saving opportunities. For example, many
in most cases, the existing piping can also be used. natural gas suppliers offer rebates for customers who
Your HVAC contractor will be able to verify what needs convert to natural gas. In most cases, that can be deter-
to be changed. However, if mined with just one quick call to
the existing propane heating your local utility. If you purchase
equipment is older and not as an ENERGY STAR -certified ap-
®
efficient, it may be time pur- pliances, you may qualify for
chase new equipment. an additional rebate. You can
Once converted to natural search for Energy Star rebates
gas, the propane tank has to at www.energystar.gov/rebate-
be adequately disposed. If the finder?s=mega.
propane tank was leased, the And don’t stop at converting
supplier will remove the con- just the heating equipment. A
tainer. If the tank was owned, homeowner can realize addi-
you can either ask your local tional savings by converting the
natural gas utility or a local pro- water heater, range and clothes
pane supplier how to dispose of dryer to economical and effi-
it properly. Natural gas is about cient natural gas. n

Fall - Winter 2020 ❙ naturalliving 07
Please recycle this magazine after you read it.