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How a Furnace and A/C Work Together

How a Furnace and A/C Work Together

It’s easy to think of a furnace and air conditioner as very separate parts of your home. After all, they do very different things, they are different units located in different places (unless you have a hybrid model like a heat pump), and they often use different energy sources, too. But in other ways, the AC and furnace are very connected. They use the same HVAC components to get the job done, and they can easily affect each other! Here’s why that’s important

Ductwork

How does air from a furnace or air conditioner system move around a house? It uses ductwork and vents, which connect to each room and allow air to circulate through a home so that temperatures in each room are affected. However, both units use the same ductwork to move air: There’s not separate ductwork for furnaces and AC units. That means that duct connections, maintenance, and cleaning can be very important for both units. If ductwork has problems, it will affect the efficiency of both heating and cooling.

Thermostat

How do you control your furnace and air conditioner? Through the same tool – your home thermostat. That means that thermostat operation will easily affect both systems. Thermostat sensors and electrical connections must both be reliable, or neither unit will be able to work correctly. Likewise, you can create thermostat settings for turning your heating and cooling on or off according to your temperature goals so that your furnace and AC units work together season by season to provide the comfort that you need – or hit energy-saving goals.

Circulating Fan

How does air move through your home? Your HVAC system uses a fan – typically, the fan that’s located on your furnace unit, which helps move the warmed air along so it can fill your home. But what about your air conditioner? In the majority of home setups, the AC unit actually piggybacks off the furnace fan to move air, so they both depend on the same fan mechanism to get the job done. That means that problems with the fan or wear and tear will affect both units. That’s especially important, because if a fan can’t move air properly, then the system can’t heat or cool a house effectively, which leads to a host of problems – including very high energy bills.

How do you control your furnace and air conditioner? Through the same tool – your home thermostat. That means that thermostat operation will easily affect both systems. Thermostat sensors and electrical connections must both be reliable, or neither unit will be able to work correctly.

HVAC

We already mentioned HVAC as a hybrid system. Essentially, these are HVAC units that work like air conditioners but can slip into a reverse mode that draws heat from the outdoors and pumps it into the house as needed. With this setup, your home doesn’t need a separate furnace unit (especially if you have a fireplace or other source of heat when necessary). However, that means that both your heating and cooling depend on the same unit, which makes maintenance and care even more important!

Do you have more specific questions about your AC unit or furnace? Do you want quotes for one or both replacements? Contact Action Heating and Air today, and we’ll be happy to help! Let us know what you want for your HVAC system.