3 Different Types of Home Heating Systems

March 23, 2023
Condensing Boiler Gas in Boiler Room — Vashon, WA — Vashon Heating & Cooling

Keeping your home warm is essential to creating a comfortable environment day to day, as well as keeping your pipes from freezing. If you're considering a new home heating system or upgrading your current one for next winter, it's helpful to have an idea of all of the options out there. To prepare you for scheduling HVAC services, below are several types of heating systems and how they work.

What Are Some Home Heating Options?

1. Furnace

A furnace utilizes an energy source to ignite a flame or heat coils, which are used to warm circulating air via a heat exchanger. The blower then pushes this warm air through the ductwork and vents to be distributed to different parts of your home. The input energy source can be propane, natural gas, or electricity, making furnaces versatile as well as one of the most common types of heating systems.

2. Geothermal Heat Pump

Geothermal heating is a clever system in which the earth's heat from the ground is utilized to warm your home. Pipes systems are buried underneath the ground and interface with your home. A refrigerant fluid passes through these pipes to collect natural heat from the ground, returning it to the home.

This loop continues constantly, run by a specialized heat pump. This is considered a renewable resource, is energy-efficient, and uses less electrical energy to run. This means it saves more money over the years.

Installing New Water Heater — Vashon, WA — Vashon Heating & Cooling

3. Boiler

Boiler systems are similar to furnaces in that they also have a consistent flame or heated coils. However, this heats water that then gets sent to parts of the home via radiators. Older systems heated the water to the point of boiling and transported the steam to the radiators to heat the house.

One benefit of this type of heater is that HVAC service professionals can set your system up to provide different levels of heating to separate rooms of the home, giving you additional control over your home's temperature.

If you need HVAC services, contact Vashon Heating & Cooling in Vashon, WA. They have over 35 years of experience offering modern solutions for heating and cooling issues. Call (206) 463-1777 to make an appointment or get an estimate, and visit the website for more information about their services..

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