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One of the most common home heating system choices are boilers. As the name implies, they heat water to provide heat throughout your residence.
Commonly, many people ask us how a boiler is different from a water heater and wonder why they need both. Here’s how boilers work, and why you need a water heater too.
When you use a boiler to heat your home, you’re using a radiant heating system. The boiler heats water or steam and distributes it through pipes to heat the floors or walls in your rooms. The water is eventually recycled back to the boiler to be reheated and used again. Because it’s still hot—just not hot enough to produce steam—it takes less energy to reheat the water when it passes through the system each time. That’s one way a radiant system is inherently more efficient than other alternatives.
Radiant floor heating warms the objects and people in the room rather than the air around them. The heat is transferred to people and objects in the room via infrared radiation, much like heat from the sun.
Because it doesn’t heat air, a radiant heat system is generally about 15% more efficient than other heating systems. Another nice benefit is that even ceramic tile floors are warm under your bare feet in the winter.
Still, radiant heating systems aren’t perfect for every home. They can be expensive to install retroactively, and they can raise your floors by as much as half an inch: Good to know if you have low ceilings. It can also affect doors and doorways between rooms. Lastly, because it’s installed under the floor, it’s much harder to access the heating elements for repairs or maintenance.
It’s an obvious question: both heat water! But the water that passes through your water heater is sent through pipes to your sink, tub, shower, and appliances like your washing machine and dishwasher, to be used for cooking, cleaning, and bathing. It then goes down the drain and into the sewer system.
The water in your boiler goes through different pipes and is heated to a much higher temperature—hot enough to turn it into steam—and then it gets recycled through the system again and again to heat your space.
How you heat your home has a big impact on your comfort. It can also make a big difference in what you spend each month to keep comfortable. That’s a lot to think about if you’re planning a renovation or building or buying a new home.
When it comes to heating your central New Hampshire, boilers are a great option. We can help you choose the best model for your home, budget, and preferences. Not sure what’s the right choice for you? We’re happy to answer all your questions and walk you through your choices. If a furnace might be a better choice, we’ll explain why.
Once you decide, you can rely on the experienced pros at Pemi River Fuels to install your equipment correctly to insure it keeps your home comfortable for decades to come.
Helping you keep your home warm and comfortable is our biggest priority! Contact us today for more information, to schedule an appointment, or for any questions about heating systems, oil, or propane.