Types of Home Heating
When it comes to deciding what type of home heating system is right for your home, there are many options to choose from. Available fuel sources include wood, natural gas, propane, oil, steam, solar energy and electricity. You can choose home heating systems that are installed throughout your house in various forms or use portable space heaters, which can be powered by electricity or gas.
Forced air heating systems heat air in a furnace and then distribute it throughout the house via ductwork. These can use any of the above mentioned fuel sources and can also be used for air conditioning during warmer weather. These home heating systems do however take up extra space in the house with the required ductwork in the walls and can be problematic for people with allergies, as moving air through ducts can spread allergens in your home.
Radiant home heating systems are another common choice. With these, a boiler heats water that is passed through tubing in the floors and walls or floor-mounted radiators to filter heat throughout a room. Like forced air systems, boilers can be powered by natural gas, oil, electricity or propane. Boilers, however, take longer to heat up and the systems cannot be used for air conditioning.
Baseboard electric home heating systems eliminate the need for a furnace or boiler and simply run along the floor at the base of the wall. Like some radiant systems that require floor-mounted radiators, some people may not like the visibility of the baseboards in their home.
When you are making this decision, you should consider the space you have available for a furnace, boiler, and ductwork in your walls, radiators or baseboards, etc. Then look at the combination of efficient heat delivery systems and fuel sources to see what will work best for your home heating. Depending on the construction of your home and what space you have to work with, this may limit your options as one choice may be more viable than another.
Depending upon the location of your home, and the various types of home heating available to you, it will come down to efficiency, safety and cost considerations when you decide which type of home heating is best.