A Complete Guide to Heating Solutions to Find the Right System for Your Home

There are many things to consider when it comes to choosing a heating system for your home, such as the prices, products, and maintenance plans. It is also important to consider the pros and cons of different heating methods. The following heating information will cover what those methods are and how they can fit your household needs:

Heat Pumps

In a dual fuel system, a gas furnace and an electric heat pump operate together. The heat pump is used for most of the heating season, except when temperatures are extremely low. The heat pump uses the heat from its surrounding environment to provide heating. When temperatures are too low, the gas furnace is used.

The heat pump is also used to provide cooling in summer. It takes warm air from inside the house and moves it outside. This cools the house and reduces energy costs. Heat pumps work best in moderate climates, but they can be effective in colder areas if they are part of a dual-fuel system that includes a backup heating system.

Gas Heating

Gas heating systems are made up of several components that all work together to produce heat in your home. The main components are the burner, which burns the fuel; the heat exchanger, which transfers heat from the burner to the air in your home; and the control system, which controls when the burner fires based on temperature sensors, thermostat settings, or a timed burn cycle.

Here are some key advantages of gas heating:

• Cost savings—Natural gas is the most common type of home heating fuel available today, and it's one of the cheapest fuel options for heating your home. In addition, natural gas is a clean-burning fuel that produces fewer greenhouse gases than other fossil fuels like oil or propane.
• Replacement options—If you're looking to replace your old heating system with a new one, there are several options for you. The first is switching from a gas furnace to a gas water heater — this frees up space in your home's ductwork for other uses. Another option is to switch from oil or propane to natural gas — this allows you to make a seamless transition between fuels.

Gas is one of the best options to use because it is a popular heating system, which makes maintenance and repairs much easier.

Oil Heating

Oil heat works by distributing heating oil throughout your house, which is then used to heat up the water that runs through your radiator. This is a very popular alternative to traditional gas or electric heating.

Oil heats your home in much the same way as other systems, but it does so even more efficiently. This makes the oil heat a very economical way to keep your house warm during the colder months.

Oil burners have been around for centuries, but they've taken on a new life in recent years because of their efficiency and relatively low cost of heating oil fuel compared to other options. Although some oil heating systems can be expensive to purchase upfront, they quickly pay for themselves over time.

Electric Heating

Finally, there is electric heating, which can be divided into three types of systems, including:

• Electric forced-air— In this type of system, warm air from the furnace circulates through ductwork and into the room, where it is distributed with vents or registers. Most of these systems are equipped with an automatic thermostat.
• Hydro-air—In this type of heating system, the heat is provided with an electric boiler. These boilers then supply the thermal energy through water or a fluid, which flows to a heat exchanger. At the heat exchanger, the air passes through to provide heating through a system of central HVAC ductwork.
• Radiant heating—In this type of system, the heating is provided through radiators or in-floor tubing. This heat is produced with an electric water heater or boiler.

All of the electric heating options are clean alternatives to fuels like gas or oil but can be more expensive to operate in areas where electricity rates are higher.

Ask your residential heating contractor about the various heating methods so you can decide which one is right for your home.