When natural gas is not always available, you may want to choose something other than a gas furnace, says Jeff Stienstra, who has worked in the heating business for years. He owns Stienstra Heating and Cooling in Hudsonville, Michigan and says that if you have a choice, radiant heat may be the more comfortable solution for your house.
One drawback of a natural gas furnace is that natural gas is not always widely available, so it might not be possible to get a natural gas furnace in the first place. In areas that are remote, mountainous or agricultural, natural gas is not always widely available, and consumers’ choice of furnaces is limited.
Another drawback is that the furnace will give off combustion gases that need to be vented out of the house. That is potentially a health hazard if it is not vented properly by a trained and professionally licensed technician. If the heat exchanger becomes damaged or cracked, it can leak combustion gases in to the house. That can be a big disadvantage if your furnace is posing a safety hazard to you and your family.
Another downside is that since natural gas furnaces are vented, you need a chimney, or a hole needs to be made in the wall to take the gas directly outside, as opposed to an electric furnace which creates no by-products. Those should all be installed by a professional because there are different codes and restrictions concerning how to do that, a homeowner would not know them without contacting their township, municipal director or their township’s code department.
Another disadvantage of gas when compared to radiant heat is that radiant heat is a more comfortable and consistent heat. It does not dry out the air in your house, which a gas furnace does. Heating the air makes the air drier, and fluctuates the temperature in the house fluctuate a little compared to a radiant heat, which heats not only the room but all the objects in the room. A natural gas furnace heats only the air, not the objects in the room.
