Tuckers Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing Blog

Heating Options to Consider Installing This Fall

radiant-heatingNow is the time to have a heating system you can rely on installed in your home, if you haven’t already. Unless you want to wrap yourself in about twenty layers just to sit on the couch and watch TV, that is. The kind of heating system you install in your home will have a major effect on how comfortable your home is this winter, so you should take care that you have the best one for your situation installed. Let’s go over a few of the more popular options available on the market today.

Heat Pumps

A heat pump is actually more similar to an air conditioner than a heater, at least in terms of construction. Two units, one installed inside and one installed outside, take turns evaporating and condensing refrigerant in order to move heat from one place to another. Unlike air conditioners, though, heat pumps are able to reverse the direction that refrigerant flows through them. This enables them to take heat from outside the home and vent it inside, acting as a heating system. The ability to act as either an air conditioner or heater is the reason that most people install heat pumps in their homes. It’s much easier to rely on one climate control system to stay comfortable throughout the year than two, provided you get it maintenance often enough.

Ductless Mini Splits

A ductless mini split is a heat pump that doesn’t use ducts. Instead, air handlers are installed throughout the home. Each air handler conditions a single room, the room in which it is installed, and up to four air handlers can be connected to a single outdoor unit. Each air handler has its own thermostat, allowing it to operate independently from the rest of the system. This enables the ductless mini split to establish different temperatures for different rooms in the home. No more warring with the other members of your household over a single thermostat. No more wasting energy on empty rooms.

Boilers

A boiler system operates quite differently from other heating systems, in that it doesn’t use forced air to heat a home. Instead, the system heats and distributes water through a series of pipes installed in the subfloor of each room. The heat from the water radiates up through the floor of the room, heating it. This process is, appropriately, called radiant heating.

Radiant heating takes less energy than forced air heating, heats rooms more evenly, and doesn’t waste output on things like duct leaks. Installing a boiler system is more of an upfront investment than other systems, as most homes are not outfitted with the pipes necessary to use one. However, they offer enough money-saving advantages that homeowners who install them tend to come out with a better return on investment in the long run.

Tuckers Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing provides a full range of heating installation services in Gaithersburg, MD. If you need a new heating system installed in your home, contact us today to schedule an appointment with one of our expert technicians.