If it’s time to upgrade your heater this winter season you have a variety of options to choose from. Even if your current heater has served you very well over the years, you may still want to switch to a different type of system this time around. We’re here to help with heating in Charlottesville, VA.
Give our team a call to schedule an in-home assessment to review your various heater options. We can talk about how each unit would work in your home as well as the pros and cons of each one. You can also keep reading to learn more about heating systems like boilers, heat pumps, and furnaces.
Boilers
A boiler is great because it uses water to conduct heat throughout your home as a method of increasing the indoor air temperature. Pipes that connect to a boiler are usually installed in the walls or under the floors. Boilers are very efficient because water is a better conductor of heat compared to air.
Plus, even after the heated water returns to the boiler, the metal pipes remain warm and continue radiating heat into your home. The downside to a boiler is that installation is highly involved. If you don’t already have a boiler in place, it may not make sense to install one. We usually only install boilers in brand new homes or homes that are undergoing renovation.
Heat Pumps
You also have some different heat pump options to consider for heating. The first is a more standard heat pump that connects to ductwork. It’s very similar to a central air conditioner although it also provides heat for your home. You could also go the ductless route and invest in a heat pump that instead has individual units installed in the different rooms of your home with no attached ductwork.
These units are highly efficient and can save you a lot of money on your monthly energy bills. The downside to heat pumps is that sometimes they cannot keep up with heating your home when temperatures are at the coldest in the winter.
Heat pumps absorb heat from outside to bring into your home, and the lower the temperatures drop, the less heat is in the air. In this case, we can install a dual fuel system. It’s basically a small add-on furnace that attaches to your heat pump and kicks in to help with heating on those days of winter that are particularly cold.
Furnaces
When it comes to furnaces, you can choose between gas and electric. Many homeowners prefer gas furnaces because they are known to be effective at heating homes quickly. But electric furnaces work well too. The number one thing you want to consider when it comes to selecting a furnace or any other type of heater is the AFUE rating.
This rating tells you how energy efficient a heater is. If you buy a furnace that has an AFUE rating of 90 or higher, it is considered a high efficiency model and stands to save you more on your monthly energy costs over the life of your unit.
We can’t control the weather outside of your home, but we can control the weather inside your home. The team at Mack Morris Heating & A/C is here to help with heating installation, so schedule your appointment today.