Heating
and cooling systems vary in functionality, build, size, and types. Depending
on your need, you might choose a heating system or a cooling system for your
home.
I’ll talk about the cooling systems some other day. Today,
let’s talk about the heating systems, more specifically the different types of heating
system people use in their households.
First of all, we can generalize the heating systems in two
different categories. One is Central Heating Systems and the other is Direct
Heat Systems. When we talk about heating systems, we think of the central
heating systems. The direct heat systems are more like the traditional heating
systems that people used back in the day. Their popularity is decreasing every
day.
The most common central heating systems are –
I.
Furnaces
II.
Boilers
III.
Heat Pumps
The most common direct heating systems are –
I.
Gas-Fired Space Heaters
II.
Unvented Gas-Fired Heaters
III.
Electric Space Heaters
Now, let’s talk about them in detail.
1.
Furnaces
These are perhaps the most common types of heating systems
used throughout the world. Almost 90% of the households in North America use
furnaces to keep the rooms warm.
These furnaces work by flowing warm air through the air
ducts from room to room and run by electricity, fuel oil or natural gas. The
inside of the furnaces heats up the air and then this heated air is pushed
through the air ducts. The gas run
furnaces are called Gas Furnaces,
the oil run furnaces are called Oil Furnaces and so on.
They are also known as forced warm-air distribution system
or ducted warm-air system.
Like any
other vented HVAC systems, these heated systems also require constant
monitoring, even the air ducts. Whenever you see molds in duct and they are
growing, call the air duct
cleaning services and clean it up before it makes you and your
family sick.
2.
Boilers
Boilers are specialized heating systems that heat water. Unlike
the furnaces which heat air and flow heat by the warm air, these boilers heat water
and pass heat through warm water. This heat is passed through the radiators and
other parts into the rooms.
The heated water after passing the heat into the rooms loses
its temperature. Then the cold water returns to the boilers. There, this cold
water is heated again in the boiler and passed through the rooms to heat the
air. These boilers, especially the residential
or commercial HVAC boilers are also known as hydraulic heaters or hydraulic
boilers. The boilers run on natural gas or fuel oil.
3.
Heat Pumps
Heat Pumps
are another popular type of heating system that people use in their households.
They are comparatively complex and works more efficiently compared to other
heating systems. The biggest advantage of heat pumps is they can
be used both heating and air conditioning systems.
In summer, the heat pumps collect heat from the high-temperature
rooms and exert the heat to the outside environment. But in winters, it works
the opposite way. In winter, the heat pumps take heat from outside and push the
heat into the living rooms.
These heat pumps have two primary sources to extract heat.
The source can be either air or ground. The air source heat pumps are simply
called Air-Source Heat Pumps and the ground source heat pumps are called Ground-Source
Hear Pumps or Geothermal Heat Pumps.
Since the heat pumps are complex, the AC repair cost will be higher. But the AC maintenance & repair costs
are like your AC
installation and AC Replacement bills,
you gotta bear them anyways. After all, these are machines.
But since these heat pumps can do both heating and cooling, I’d
say it’s worth it.
4.
Gas-Fired Space Heaters
From here on, the rest of the air
conditioning units or more specifically, the heating
units are Direct Heating units and one of the most popular ones are Gas-Fired
Space Heaters.
These heaters can be wall mounted, floor furnaces or free
standing and the best part is, they do not require vents which means you don’t
have to worry or pay for air duct cleaning services. However, these heaters are
not the most efficient ones as they offer very little heat. They are not like your
typical central ac unit, which
is why they are used to heat a single bedroom and nor the entire house or commercial
space.
Most of the models of these heaters use natural gas or
propane. Very few of them use Kerosene to burn.
5.
Unvented Gas-Fired Heaters
Unvented Gas-Fired Heaters are very much like the Gas-Fired Space
Heaters. Like the previous ones, they do not require air vents to flow the heat.
That’s why they are called Vent-Free heaters. Like the Gas-Fired ones, these
also come in a wall mounted setup or a free-standing setup. They also use natural
gas or kerosene to burn. But they are much more efficient in heating the rooms
quickly.
However, these units may cause fire hazards and that’s why many
states have prohibited the dwellers to use it. I would also suggest to avoid
this one and go for another safe and efficient HVAC system.
6.
Electric Space Heaters
Among all the direct heating air conditioning units, these are
perhaps the safest ones. Also, they are very inexpensive. However, as much as
they are cheap to buy, they are as much as expensive to maintain. I am not just
talking about the AC services & repair. I am talking about the energy bill.
They consume energy like an iron and since you are using it for
hours, the electricity bill is going to pile up. Apart from that, these are easy
to use, just plug it in and you are ready to go.