The 3 Home Heating Types

In order to live comfortably in a home, it needs to have heating to keep it warm during the cold winter. There is more than just one type of heating system that a West Calgary home can use, and it’s important for homeowners to know what kind they have or what kind they want, should they be buying a new construction home. There are three main types of heating systems, and each type has different sub-types within it. Here is what homeowners need to know.

Central Heating Systems

Most homes these days use a central heating system because it’s what’s expected. The most common types of central heat are furnaces, boilers, and heat pumps, with furnaces being the most popular of those. 

Furnaces are usually powered by gas, but they can also use electricity, propane, or oil. In order to heat a home, air is forced through ducts to distribute it. Furnaces are the most convenient type of central heat because the same ducts can also be used by the home’s air conditioner to circulate cold air through the home during the summer. 

Boilers are thought of as being more old fashioned these days, but they can still be found in use. They heat homes by sending hot water or steam through pipes throughout the home. This allows the users to have zoned heating and cooling, but boilers are more expensive to install and operate than normal furnaces, which is a large part of why they’ve fallen out of popularity.

Direct Heating

Common examples of direct heat are gas-fired space heaters, electric space heaters, fireplaces, and even wood-burning pellet stoves. All these systems provide heat in one location and often can’t be moved.

Many homes already come with a fireplace, and it can be either wood-burning or gas. Space heaters have the power to warm typically just one room, and they’re often mounted on walls. Electric space heaters, on the other hand, are inexpensive and can be purchased at stores. They can be moved from room to room and are powered by plugging into an electrical socket. They make good choices for homeowners who want to warm just one spot, and there are even small models that can be kept on a desk.

Wood-burning pellet stoves are typically found in rural homes where there is a large supply of burnable wood. These stoves can be quite powerful, but they also release greenhouse gasses into the air. However, there are now newer models that cut the number of emissions in half, making them much safer to use.

State-of-the-Art Heat

State-of-the-art heat systems are the most unique of the three major heating system types. This encompasses things like radiant floor heating, ductless heating, and combined heat and power.

Radiant heat flooring is popular for bathrooms, especially in areas where the cold winters make it difficult to walk on floors. Heating coils are installed below the bathroom’s floor tiles. 

A ductless heating system is a heat pump that is mounted on a wall in a desired room. They’re like the more advanced version of window AC units, but instead of requiring an entire window of access to the outdoors, ductless systems only require a small hole to be drilled into the wall. 

These are just some of the different types of heating systems homeowners can choose for their homes. Each of them has their own advantages and disadvantages, so homeowners need to do thorough research in order to choose the one that is right for them.