Winter be gone! Like some wizard with magical powers, so many people tell winter to stay away. And who wouldn’t? If you are a winter lover, then you must be a rare breed, a unicorn perhaps. Many people clamor for winter to end so that they can once again enjoy the sun. Because basically, winter is bad news. Talk about your hands being so cold that you can’t even feel it. Or talk about shivering so bad you can hear your teeth clashing. Be that as it may, it’s not like you have a choice. So long as you’re on planet Earth, winter comes and goes as it pleases.
Preparation, therefore, is the name of the game. For starters, you need the right clothing. Your goal, of course, is to keep as warm as possible. But that’s not all. A good heating system to warm your precious abode is a necessity as well. You will suffer a great deal in your home if your heating system falls short? Cold homes, undeterred over time, are bad for your health. Suffice it to say, it’s a breeding ground for sickness. To check which is the best heating system for you, we’ve lined up three of the most popular ones, their pros and cons included.
1. Furnaces
One of the most common heating systems that people opt for is the furnace. There are two major types of furnaces. They are the electric and gas furnace. Even though these two types serve the same purpose as providing warmth in the home, they vary in other aspects.
Many people love the electric furnace because of the small initial cost. At the same time, the size of the furnace is small. With this, you wouldn’t need to allocate a large amount of real estate to get this factored into your home. The downside? Electric furnaces will get your energy bills up. Using electricity for your abode to heat up is more expensive as the months go by.
On the other hand, a gas furnace may cost you more initially. Their upside, however, can be a big one. Not only will you be able to get a bigger furnace when using gas, but you save a lot in the long term. Gas furnaces won’t take a huge chunk of your energy bills, unlike the electric counterpart.
One other major difference between these two furnaces is the installation of the furnace. For the electric type, it’s a lot easier. While for the gas furnace, this can be a bit harder. This is because there is a need for venting and piping, something electric types won’t need.
Having trained hands to install your furnace can be a lifesaver. That way, you can be sure that the installation would be properly done. And headaches down the road would be minimal.
2. Boilers
Boilers are not as common as furnaces, but then again, they are very effective. With boilers, the driving force is water that helps transport the heat. The heat is transferred through pipes and other devices in your home to distribute the heat. When the hot air is distributed, the cold air is collected and re-heated and redistributed.
A distinct advantage of boilers is air quality. With furnaces, the distribution of hot air can lead to bad air quality. One reason for this is the ductwork. It may contain pollutants that could put your people in danger. This is not a problem with boilers.
Moreover, you won’t have to worry about air leaks. Unlike furnaces that need a distribution system to heat a home, boilers apply heat more directly. This does away with the spread of toxic materials during distribution.
However, a word of caution. If there was no boiler in your home when you bought the house, installing one would come at a very high price tag. At the same time, getting everything in order would prove to be quite difficult for you. Here’s a little math to get your cost calculations in order.
3. Heat Pumps
Many people say that heat pumps and furnaces are the same. But that’s definitely not the case. ; Well, they are both heating systems. But the similarities end there. The way they function is entirely different.
What the heat pump does is that it gets heat energy from the outside. And then transfer it inside the house. You might be wondering, how is that even possible when it is freezing outside? Well, heat pumps work like your regular air conditioning in reverse. All thanks to the refrigerant, heat is absorbed from the cold air outside. Such heat is then used to warm up a home.
The advantages of a heat pump are many. Although its installation cost is higher than a furnace, it can be used to cool your precious abode. Surprised? Don’t be. A furnace would need to be coupled with air conditioning for the summer. However, the heat pump can act as a heater in winter and a cooler in summer. It’s an all-year-round device.
In terms of energy efficiency, the heat pump is king. It can transfer as much as 300% more of the energy that it consumes. Even the most efficient furnace can only transfer less than 100% of its consumed energy.
The thing, though, with heat pumps is that it makes the outside unit very cold. That’s obviously because of the heat collection process. So you may have to switch off the heat pumps for some time. A useful tweak is by opting for defrost cycles that would run from time to time. This way, you can control how cold it gets outside and how warm it gets inside.
Another option is to do a hybrid heating system. You can have heat pumps as your main source of heat and a natural gas furnace to back it up when the cold outside becomes unbearable.
Now, you can see, there are lots of ways you can tame the cold weather from the inside. Certainly, all is possible with due diligence. Being warm, therefore, is not a matter of luck. It’s definitely a matter of choice. So choose well. Then chant: Winter be gone!
