| Fuel Distributors
. •Selection of coal & solid fuel. •
Environmentally friendly. • Company, Hardwood
logs. •Bulk Gas & Cylinder Gas. •
Cylinder Replacements. • Regular Deliveries
Servicing. • Economy Gas. Butane-Propane.
• Gases For Home & Ind. Somerset Domestic
fuels deliveries Oil Gas |
|
Identifying Heating Systems in Homes
For Sale
Use this information to help you identify some of the
traditional home heating systems you may encounter during
your search for a new home.
Traditional Furnaces
A furnace draws air from the house into a ductwork
system, taking it to an area where it is warmed before
being delivered back to living spaces. Newer furnaces
use blowers to recirculate the warmed air. A furnace
may be fueled with gas, electricity, oil, or even coal
or wood.
Circulating air is drawn through a filter that helps
rid the house of dust and other particles.
Gas and oil furnaces have a pilot light that warms a
heat exchange unit, which in turn warms the air before
it is circulated back through the house. These furnaces
have a flue where exhaust gases vent to the outside.
An electric furnace uses heating strips, or elements,
to warm the air.
A wood or coal furnace has a sealed firebox where the
fuel is burned, and a heat exchanger where air is warmed
before delivery.
Metal vents that allow warmed air to escape from the
system and into the house are usually found in the floors
or on walls in living areas.
The home's temperature is controlled by changing the
settings on a thermostat, usually positioned on a wall
at eye-level. The thermostat shows the current temperature
of the room.
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|
| Fuel Distributors Somerset. •Selection of
coal & solid fuel. • Environmentally friendly.
• Company, Hardwood logs. •Bulk Gas
& Cylinder Gas. • Cylinder Replacements.
• Regular Deliveries Servicing. • Economy
Gas. Butane-Propane. • Gases For Home &
Ind. Somerset Domestic fuels deliveries Oil Gas |
Heat Pumps
Heat pumps extract warmth from outdoor air, from ground or surface water, or from the earth. The air is warmed more by the system if necessary, then circulated through the house.
You'll find metal vents and filters similar to those used for forced air furnaces. The thermostat may appear similar, but will also include controls for air conditioning.
The outdoor unit usually states 'heat pump' on its label.
Radiant Baseboard Heat
Baseboard heaters are often visible as long, metal units with electrical elements inside. Each unit has its own control, which may be marked in increments from low-to-high, but will not show the room's current temperature. |
You might see baseboard heaters used as a home's sole source of heat, or for supplemental heat in cooler rooms or rooms that were difficult to outfit with ductwork. They are typically more expensive to operate than furnaces.
Radiant Ceiling or Floor Heat Radiant systems warm objects in much the same way as the sun does. No blowers are used.
Electric radiant elements are installed in floors or ceilings. In the examples I've seen, each area has a dial control similar
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Hydron heating is another type of radiant heat, where hot water flows through tubes under the floor or through units that resemble baseboard heaters.
A hydronic system might be installed in ceilings.
Hydronic heating systems are sometimes used under concrete in driveways to keep snow and ice from accumulating.
Hydronic heating systems include a boiler that warms the circulating water. |
Space Heaters
You might see portable space heaters that are electric
or fueled by gas or kerosene. These should not be used
to qualify an area as heated living space.
Gas space heaters are common in some areas. They may
be freestanding or may be attached to a wall. If permanently
attached, they do allow an area to be counted as heated
living space (provided other qualifications are met). |
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