Thinking of Getting a Boiler? Consult Our Quick Guide

If you’re building a new house or renovating your existing home, you may be thinking about getting a boiler heating system. Boilers offer some advantages over furnaces, and they’re gaining popularity in new construction. This quick guide will answer some basic questions you may have about boiler heating.

How Do Boilers Work?

Boiler heating works by circulating hot water through radiators or radiant flooring loops in the home’s living spaces. The old clanky steam radiators you’ve seen in old buildings used boiler heat, but modern systems use hot water rather than steam and have much more attractive and effective heat transfer equipment. Many systems have baseboard radiators, but newer systems have the radiant heating loops hidden in the concrete slab or beneath the flooring.

Advantages of Boiler Heating

Boiler heating is more expensive to install than forced air furnace heating, but its extra cost can be recovered over time due to higher overall system energy efficiency. Other advantages of boiler heat include:

• Quiet operation – A boiler circulating pump operates almost silently, whereas the occupants of a building with forced-air heat always know when the blower fan turns on or is running.
• Warm floors – Furnace systems blow hot air out of ducts, so the floor doesn’t get heated directly. The floor above the radiant heating loops connected to a boiler stays warm enough to walk on in your bare feet, even on the coldest winter days.
• Improved air quality – Radiant heat doesn’t dry the air out like a furnace blowing hot air does. A boiler system also doesn’t circulate dust, mold or other contaminants throughout your home.
• Ease of maintenance – Boilers don’t have filters that need to be changed regularly like forced-air heating systems do. The burner and circulating pump require simple maintenance every year. The hot water piping and radiators will last many years with no maintenance needed, unlike ductwork which may need cleaning or sealing every few years.

Contact the pros at Wood Air Conditioning & Plumbing, Inc. for more information about boilers or other heating system options. We proudly serve the HVAC needs of homeowners in and around the Sulphur Springs area.