Types of Home Heating When it comes to an office building, home, or even an industrial setting, there are all kinds of heating options you can choose from. Each one is going to also have a variety of features, options, sizes and power configurations to consider as well mostly because of what it’s going to be used for in terms of the setting; for example, an apartment complex probably won't need the same thing as a single family home and a single family home probably won't need the same thing as a giant 65,000 square foot warehouse. Most of the systems out there though offer the same sort of technology, but all of the introduce different types of systems and they include forced air, radiant heat, hydronic, steam radiant and, of course, geothermal. below we will be going over each one of these types as well as what they are considered good for, what type of "energy" they use or can use and some of the benefits of that type of home heating system. Forced Air Systems This is by far one of the most common options available in terms of residential homes. It works by heating the air inside of a furnace and then, as the name says, forcing the air out by way of vents. The more common term for this type of option is called Central Heating Systems because the air that is blown out comes by way of a central point inside the structure. Most of these are placed inside closets in a home and that is where the air can be filtered, heated, or unheated. This type of system can be heated many different ways such as gas, electricity, propane, and even oil. This is a system that allows both hot and cold which makes it ideal for residential homes. However, because of the way its set up, these tend to be placed more in newer homes rather than old and if you want it in your older home a plan of action will be put into place. It’s also quite noisy and can usually be heard throughout the floor the system is on i.e.; if it’s in your basement you will hear it in the entire basement, up the steps and until you close that door, the noise won't settle down - you'll still hear the hum throughout the home, but the section in where its located is the noisiest.
Radiant Heat Systems This is a system that has high praise when it comes to its ability to create natural and warming heat and it’s also known for consistency when it comes to warming an entire house or building throughout. In this specific system, a central pump has various networks of hot water lines usually underneath the floor or in the ceiling to help distribute the heat. The water is heated up using a boiler that can be used by way of gas, propane, electricity, or even oil. This system can take a few minutes to heat an entire building though since it needs to get circulated through the pipes first. This is a more expensive option because of how the system is set up and installed and with this method, cooling is not usually offered because again, of the way the system is set up, it’s much harder to include a separate ductwork system and even if you could, it would be largely expensive. Hydronic Systems The heating pattern is much like that if the radiant heat system above. This one also has another term called hot water baseboard system. Instead of having pipes throughout the floor and ceiling like above, this one just uses pipes in the baseboard using a heating unit which is attached to the wall. These tend to be incredibly quiet, energy efficient and easy to install. These can be heated by way of natural gas, electricity, or oil and the temperature can be controlled in each room you have the system in. Essentially these are much like the heating systems found in lofts and apartments in cities like NYC, but instead of the sort of metal box on the wall, its down near the baseboards and it’s much more attractive. Since these are specifically meant to push out hot air, you would need another unit to push out cool air. Steam Radiant
These are the ones spoken about above they are also called radiators and usually they use either one or two pipes, these pipes heat the water up using either electricity, oil, or gas. These are very efficient when it comes to heating a room up, however, they can be bulky and the metal part gets incredibly hot which makes it difficult to play a room around since furniture cannot touch it. It’s also hot to the touch which means if you have kids or animals, this might not be the best option because if they touch it, chances are they WILL get burned. These are usually only used for warming a building or a room, so if you want AC you would have to find another option. Geothermal If you've never heard of this option, it’s for good reason, they are still pretty new to the market, but they allow for both heating and cooling options. If you do see these are hear about them they are going to be in homes and eco-aware offices where efficiency and "green" technology matters. These use internal heat sources from the ground to balance out internal temps. It’s incredibly useful and ingenious, however, as you would expect they are also incredibly expensive. However, people that do use them say that they notice a decrease in their heating and cooling bills over time than any other system out there. When it comes to choosing a system its best to think about three things; what you need it for (office, business, and warehouse, home), how the system will be powered (oil, gas, electricity, propane) as well as the cost. For most people the biggest thing they pay attention to is the cost because all of these options vary by a lot, especially the ones that are only producing heat and you need to introduce another system for cooling. In most cases because of this people tend to choose the central heating system because options are available, it’s easy to control, and it tends to be the most cost effective system out there. If you are looking to install a new system another thing you may want to consider is the environmental footprint of your heating system and the way that the system will produce the heat, for example installing a new oil tank for a residential heating system in NJ will have a different environmental footprint than will a natural gas furness.