Furnaces

Furnace Replacement in
Southern Maryland With SMO Energy

Your furnace works hard to keep your home warm. Keeping your furnace working optimally and replacing it when necessary is a must. A furnace can last for many years as long as you have it cleaned regularly, but older furnaces often struggle to burn fuel efficiently.

The less efficient a furnace is, the higher your energy costs are. Ensuring your system is maintained correctly and functioning efficiently can maximize its lifespan, decrease energy costs and create total home comfort.

SMO Energy serves clients across Southern Maryland and offers a variety of HVAC services, including:

- Furnace installation
- Furnace replacement
- Furnace repair and service
- Furnace maintenance
- Annual furnace tune-ups
- Fuel delivery
- Service agreements

If you are not sure what your furnace needs or if it is time for a new one, you can schedule a free in-home energy consultation. One of our energy consultants will visit your home, listen to your needs and concerns, answer your questions and make recommendations to you.

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Schedule Your Free In-Home Energy Consultation

Not sure if it’s time for a new furnace? Don’t know what type of furnace you need? Fill out this form and one of our Client Care representatives will contact you shortly to schedule your free in-home energy consultation.

Why Choose SMO Energy for Furnace Replacement?

Your home’s furnace will do its best work if it is installed correctly and if the furnace itself is the right size for your home. A furnace that is too large will turn on and off more than it needs to, which puts extra strain on the system. Furnaces that are too large for a home also use more energy than necessary and can cause temperature fluctuations.

Meanwhile, a furnace that is too small for the size of a house cannot do its job effectively. It is likely to struggle to keep your home warm on the chilliest of nights and will need to use more energy to do so.

Proper furnace installation is also essential for your home’s overall comfort. When not installed correctly, a furnace might leak fuel. Another installation issue is leaky duct-work, which reduces the furnace’s efficiency.

When you are purchasing a new furnace, you want an experienced heating and oil company you can trust to do the job right. A reputable company with years of experience can help you choose the most appropriate furnace for your home and will install the furnace for you, properly.

In Southern Maryland, that company is SMO Energy. We are a family-owned, locally-operated business and we know heating equipment. We know when furnaces are working well, when they need help and when it is time for a furnace replacement. We can quickly and easily install a brand-new furnace that can dramatically reduce your energy costs and increase your total home comfort.

Our fully trained, licensed, NATE-certified technicians can install your furnace as well as provide needed repairs and regular maintenance to make sure your furnace is working optimally at all times. Whatever the job is, our team has done it before and is happy to do it for you.

SMO Energy does more than replace and install furnaces. We also perform routine maintenance to keep your furnace working as efficiently as possible. We offer service agreements for oil and gas furnaces. Should something go wrong with your furnace, you have the reassurance that we will be there to fix it.

Your furnace works constantly, and there is a chance that something could go wrong with it in the middle of the night or early in the morning. SMO Energy offers around-the-clock emergency heating equipment repair in Southern Maryland. Even if your furnace decides to break at 2 in the morning, we can get someone out to your home to assist as soon as possible.

There other reasons to choose SMO Energy for your furnace and home heating and cooling needs:

No hidden or delivery fees on heating oil
Free monthly payment plans
Online account management services
Live client care representatives
Air conditioning repair and replacement

Get Your Free Furnace Consultation and Estimate Today

10 Common Furnace Questions

Want answers to your most pressing questions about your home’s furnace or heating fuel? You have come to the right place. Learn more about your home’s furnace and your heating options in Southern Maryland.

1. What Is a Furnace?

A furnace is a piece of equipment used to heat a home. Furnaces provide heating to a home by warming air. The warm air then travels to each room in a house through ducts. Furnaces are an example of a central heating system. The furnace creates heat in a centralized location, such as in the basement of the home. Ductwork is used to distribute the heat to the rest of the house.

Furnaces typically cycle on when they receive a signal from a thermostat to increase the temperature. For example, a house might be 70 degrees. Feeling chilly, a homeowner might turn the thermostat up to 72 degrees. After the control board on a furnace confirms that it is safe to operate, the furnace’s fuel source — usually either gas or oil — will ignite.

The ignition will warm the air, which travels through the ducts. The furnace will continue operating until the thermostat reaches the set temperature and sends a signal to the furnace to cycle down. If the temperature measured by the thermostat falls below the set temperature, the furnace will cycle on again.

2. What Types of Furnaces Are Available?

You have many options when it comes to choosing a furnace. Furnace types vary based on the fuel source used. For example, some furnaces are powered by natural gas or propane, others by heating oil. A furnace can also be powered by electricity.

Furnaces also differ when it comes to their annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) rating. A furnace’s AFUE rating measures the efficiency of the furnace in terms of converting fuel into heat. The type of fuel used by the furnace influences its AFUE rating. Generally, a higher rating means a more fuel-efficient furnace.

A furnace can either be single-stage or two-stage. Single-stage furnaces have one power setting while two-stage furnaces have two — half power and full power. A two-stage furnace operates on half power when it does not need to provide a lot of heat. On colder days or at times when the furnace needs to provide more heat to warm the house to the set temperature, it runs on full power.

3. What Is Forced Air Oil Heating?

Forced air heating uses air to distribute heat throughout a house. The furnace heats the air before it is sent through the ductwork in the rooms of a home. The heated air exits the ducts through vents placed in each room. Usually, the same ducts that are used for forced air heating are also used for a home’s air conditioning system, sending cold air throughout the house when the weather is warm.

Forced air heating systems can run on a variety of fuels. In homes that use oil heat, a forced air oil heating system will use an oil-fired furnace to heat the air.

4. What Is the Advantage of Forced Air Heating?

Forced air heating systems offer several advantages to homeowners compared to other heating systems. Usually, forced air furnaces are more energy-efficient, especially if a homeowner has recently replaced an older furnace or keeps their existing furnace in good working order. Forced air heating systems also tend to have lower costs of ownership compared to other systems. Another advantage of forced air heating systems is that they can share the same ductwork as a home’s air conditioning, providing heating and cooling to homes throughout the year.

5. What Is the Lifespan of a Furnace?

A furnace can have a lifespan of up to 30 years. The average furnace has a lifespan of about 15 years when well-maintained. Although furnaces do have long lifespans, it is often the case that a homeowner will want to replace theirs before its life is up as older furnaces tend to be much less efficient compared to newer models. Modern furnaces can have efficiency ratings of up to 98%, while older models tend to have efficiency ratings between 56 and 70%. Upgrading to a newer model can help a homeowner enjoy improved comfort and significantly lower energy bills.

6. What Is a High-Efficiency Furnace? What Makes a Furnace High Efficiency?

A furnace’s efficiency is measured by comparing the amount of fuel it uses to the amount of heat it produces. The rating used is annual fuel utilization efficiency or AFUE. The higher a furnace’s AFUE rating, the more efficient it is. The most energy-efficient furnaces available today have AFUE ratings between 90% and 98.5%. Furnace manufacturers need to display the AFUE rating of each model so people can compare their options when shopping for new equipment.

AFUE is not the only factor that makes a furnace high-efficiency. High-efficiency furnaces also have a second heat chamber for condensing flue gases and sealed combustion.

7. What Furnace Do I Need?

The type of furnace you need in your Southern Maryland home depends on a variety of factors. The type of fuel source you currently use, and whether you would like to switch to a different option, influence the type of furnace that will work in your home. The size of your home also plays a role in determining what kind of furnace is most appropriate. An energy consultant from SMO Energy can visit your home, discuss your needs and help you choose the best furnace for you.

8. What Is the Difference Between a Furnace and a Heat Pump?

A heat pump is another type of home heating system. One of the most significant differences between a heat pump and a furnace is the method they use to heat a home. Furnaces generate heat in a house, using an ignited fuel source to warm the air.

Heat pumps do not make heat. Instead, they move heat. During the winter months, a heat pump warms a home by transferring heat from the outside to the inside of a house. The source of the heat depends on the type of heat pump system installed in a home. Heat pumps can gather heat from the water, the air or the ground.

Along with heating a house, a heat pump can also cool a home in the warmer months. The method of a cooling a house is similar to the process of warming it. A heat pump cools by transferring heat from the inside of the house to the outside.

9. How Often Should Your Furnace Run?

Ideally, your furnace will not be cycling on and off every few minutes. When a furnace cycles on and off frequently, it usually indicates a problem with the system. The furnace might not be sized appropriately for the size of the house, the thermostat might be malfunctioning or the air filters and ducts might need to be cleaned.

When everything is in good working order, you can usually expect your furnace to run two to three cycles per hour. It is also worth noting that your furnace might run for longer cycles when the temperatures outside are nearer to freezing.

10. What Do You Do When Your Furnace Goes Out?

One of the first things you should do if your furnace goes out or does not seem to be working is to check to confirm that the unit is on. You can also confirm that the thermostat is on and set to the right temperature. In some cases, the switch on a thermostat or furnace can get bumped, switching the unit off.

If your furnace is on and still not working, your best option is to call SMO Energy and have a repair person come out and take a look. We offer 24/7 emergency service, so you can call on us when your furnace breaks, even if it is the middle of the night.

You do not have to wait for your furnace to shut down completely to get repair help. It is often more cost-effective to call for heater repairs at the first sign of a problem, such as rooms that do not heat evenly or an increase in your energy bills.

Furnace Services We Offer

Furnace
Repair & Service

Furnace
Replacement & Installation

Furnace
Maintenance & Tune-Ups

Furnace
Warranties & Financing

Signs You May Need a New Furnace

If the average furnace has a lifespan between 15 and 30 years, how can you tell when it is time for a heater replacement? Usually, there are some clear signs that your furnace is nearing the end of its useful life and should be replaced. One common sign that is time for a new furnace is a higher energy bill. If you are not using your furnace more than before, but you are paying more for it, your system is likely working harder than it should to keep your home comfortable.

Other signs that it is time for a new furnace include:

Uneven temperatures indoors or cold spots in your house. Several things can create cold spots in your home, including an aging furnace that can no longer heat evenly.
You run out of fuel quickly. If your home uses propane or oil, you usually have a good sense of how much fuel you need to get through the winter. If you run out of fuel unexpectedly, that can be a sign that your furnace needs attention.
Excess dust in your home. Furnaces have filters designed to keep dust out of the air. If you notice that your house is dustier than usual, it can be a sign that something is wrong with the furnace.
Frequently cycling on and off or furnace seems to run all of the time. Your furnace should not run all of the time. If it does, it might need to be replaced or repaired.

In some cases, it might be worthwhile to replace your furnace even if it seems to be fine. If you replace a furnace that is more than 10 years old with a newer model, you are likely to enjoy a more efficient system as well as lower heating bills.

Another thing worth noting is that you might not need to replace a furnace that is cycling on and off, making loud noises, producing excess dust or heating unevenly. In some circumstances, your furnace can be repaired, rather than replaced. Preventative maintenance can also help to extend the life of your furnace, allowing it to work efficiently for longer.

What to Know Before Replacing a Furnace

Your furnace plays a significant role in keeping your home comfortable, but it is not the only player involved in your home’s heating and comfort levels. If your home is not as warm as you would like it to be and you are considering replacing your furnace, you might also want to have a certified technician examine your home’s ductwork.

In some cases, a considerable amount of energy escapes through the ducts, meaning the warm air never gets to the room it is intended to heat. Re-insulating and sealing your home’s ducts can help your new furnace warm your home more effectively.

It is also worthwhile to weigh the pros and cons of repairing your furnace versus replacing it. If your furnace is less than 10 years old and has been well-maintained throughout its life, it might be more cost-effective for you to repair it rather than replace it.

7 Benefits of Replacing Your Furnace

Replacing your furnace can come with advantages beyond having a reliable source of heat:

1. Savings on Energy Costs

Newer furnaces will cost you more upfront but will often pay themselves back in energy savings within a couple of years. These systems are usually more efficient than older models, requiring less fuel and power to maintain a comfy climate in your home. Since they don’t have to work as hard, you can expect lower utility bills.

2. Better Air Circulation

Airflow quality tends to diminish as systems age over time, resulting in uncomfortable and uneven internal environments. A newer model, even with a lower BTU, will likely come with a variable-speed motor to consistently and efficiently circulate air throughout your home.

Installing a new furnace with enhanced HVAC technology will enable you to produce a continuous stream of fresh air, easily maintaining a constant temperature in your house. Modern systems can distribute air more evenly and effectively control humidity levels to create a more comfortable climate.

3. Fewer Repairs

If you’ve hired repair technicians to service your furnace in the past, you know how costly these situations can become, especially as the unit ages. A new installation will be more reliable and help you avoid these emergency expenses, allowing you to save and spend your hard-earned cash elsewhere.

While a furnace replacement will require a sizable investment, it is a cost-effective option that reduces the need and frequency of expensive repairs going forward. Plus, newer models often come with warranties lasting a couple of years, giving you peace of mind that you won’t need to spend money on your furnace for a while.

4. Quieter Operations

Older furnaces tend to produce more noise than newer models. With each year that passes, older systems may also run into specific problems that cause additional noises, including humming, grinding, squealing or thumping. Modern configurations can still shake and rattle, but they often come equipped with unique features, sound-absorbing materials and additional insulation to limit the amount of noise they produce.

5. Improved Overall Efficiency

The longer you use your furnace, the more dust it collects and the less efficient it becomes. Average furnaces usually offer anywhere from 15 to 20 years of service life, but their Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating can drop to almost half their past efficiency levels as they reach the end of that span. Older heating systems generally maintain 56% to 70% AFUE, meaning that they output 56 to 70 BTU of usable heat for every 100 BTU of heating oil, resulting in higher monthly heating costs.

However, updated furnaces are designed to be eco-friendly with high-efficiency capabilities. These systems may cost more than others but will provide you with beneficial energy savings, often paying for themselves within a couple of years. Besides advantages to your bills and the environment, efficient furnaces offer superior comfort and healthier air for a pleasant home climate.

6. Cleaner Air

Since we spend most of our time indoors, it’s crucial to have a healthy air supply, especially for those with allergies or respiratory issues. Investing in a new furnace makes a significant contribution to the cleanliness of the air in your home.

Furnaces reaching the end of their life have a more difficult time filtering out dust, dirt, pet hair, pollen and other airborne contaminants. Newer systems with improved airflow and superior filters can easily remove these pollutants from the air and even help prevent mold growth.

7. Boosted Resale Value

A furnace replacement offers your home many benefits, even if you plan on moving in the future. When someone purchases a home, the last thing they want to do is dump more money into replacing a faulty furnace.

Houses with modern furnace systems are more desirable to homebuyers than those without, saving them the trouble of dealing with it themselves. Often, they’ll be willing to pay more knowing they’ll enjoy increased energy savings, cleaner and more efficient air circulation, and fewer repairs.

Contact SMO Energy for Furnace Repair and Replacement in Maryland

If your furnace is not heating your home like it once did or your energy bills have skyrocketed, SMO Energy can help. Our NATE-certified technicians can examine your furnace and let you know whether repairing it or replacing it would be your best option. Schedule a free consultation today to start the furnace repair or replacement process or to get answers to your questions about your furnace.

We provide service to the following counties in Southern Maryland:

St. Mary’s County
Anne Arundel County
Prince George’s County
Charles County
Calvert County

SMO Energy does more than replace furnaces. Whether you are interested in fuel delivery, heating or cooling equipment or want a service plan to protect your heating or cooling systems, reach out to us today.