If you own a home in the United States of America, more likely than not you have a forced air furnace heating your home. Though this type of unit makes up the majority, hot water and steam boilers are in a close second. But, is a furnace really what is best? There are certain things that every homeowner should consider before converting or buying a new system to meet their HVAC needs.
The Pros and Cons of Furnace Ownership
Do you want to hear the good news first? Furnace units have gained so much popularity with homeowners and building contractors for two main reasons. First, forced air furnaces allow a room or home to heat quickly. Second, air conditioning units are easily hooked up into a forced air system, and this type of cooling system is the best way to cool home when compared to the other options out there: window or wall units, portable air conditioners, fans, etc…
Since a furnace uses hot air to warm the home, there are no pipes filled with water that may freeze like in a boiler system. Another benefit to owning a furnace is the level of efficiency. If you have a furnace that was made after 1992, it should be at least 80% AFUE. There are even some furnaces on the market today that are 95% efficient or more. This means that 95% of the gas used to run the unit is being used to heat the home. Furnaces can also have multiple stages. A two stage furnace with a variable speed blower is able to run at different intensities based on the weather outside. On milder days it will run on a lower setting, and on more extreme days it will run at a higher setting. This saves money while making sure that your home is properly warmed. It is this type of technology that helps homeowners save money on their energy bills.
What if your furnace was made before 1992? You should have your unit replaced. Furnace repairs on a unit this old may not last. These units had no efficiency requirements, and will cost a lot of money to run. They also damage the environment by adding carbon dioxide to the air.
Furnaces tend of have a problem with heat loss as well. They use fans and motors to circulate the hot air through the ductwork in the home. As the air circulates, the ducts are absorbing some of the heat. They may even be allowing air to escape before it reaches the vent in the target room that it is trying to heat. This is the main cause of uneven heating in the home. Some rooms may get too hot while others are left ice cold. In order to solve this problem, homeowners may have to equip their home with more than one furnace.
If your home has a boiler and you are considering a conversion to hot air heat, you need to know about the amount of duct work involved in the installation of a furnace. Duct work is large and needs to be concealed by walls, ceilings, and floors. Boiler conversion can become very costly because of this need for duct work. Another downside to duct work is that it collects dust from the home and re-circulates it into each room. Without proper cleaning, a person who has allergies can suffer from the effects of the dust that collects in the ducts. If at this point a furnace doesn’t seem like the right unit for you, you may want to consider a boiler.
Pros and Cons of Boiler Installation
Boiler units use hot water or steam in order to heat the various parts of the home. The water is transported through pipes to radiators or baseboards and is then emitted into the room to provide heat. The circulating pump that moves the hot water through the home is more efficient than a furnace blower at transporting the same amount of heat. When it comes to efficiency, boilers nowadays have similar AFUE ratings as high efficiency furnace. If your unit is very old, it needs to be replaced because chances are it is only about 55-65% efficient. That means that around half of the gas you pay for to power the unit isn’t being used to heat the home.
Another plus to boiler ownership is the ability to create multiple heating zones in the home. Zone valves that are controlled by individual thermostats can create independent heating in various rooms. This will help meet everyone’s comfort needs.
Also, boiler systems do not take up a lot of space. Piping is smaller than duct work and more easily hidden behind walls, floors, and ceilings. However, some homeowners do not like the way that baseboards or radiators look. People like this have another option though. It may be slightly more invasive, but radiant heat can be installed in floors. This eliminates the need for a visible radiator in the room. With a boiler, it is also possible to purchase a combination system that provides both heating for the home and hot water for shower and dishes. This is not possible with a furnace, and the hot water tank must be a separate unit all together.
Boiler units do have two main problems. The first is that they heat rather slowly. The water must first be heating and then transferred to the room where it will diffuse through the air. This does eventually heat the space, but since there is no driving force like there is for forced hot air, it does take a lot longer.
The second problem involves the pipes that transport the water to each room. These pipes are constantly filled with water that has the potential to freeze in extreme weather conditions. A frozen pipe can burst causing massive damage to your have and your heating system. It is important that if you choose to install a boiler that you are not leaving the unit off or at too low of a temperature to prevent pipe freezing.
I cannot tell you which unit is best for your home. However, you know what you and your family’s heating needs are. From this information, you should be able to choose between a furnace or boiler for your home.
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