Your Comprehensive Boiler Guide: 6 Facts You Should Know

These days, there are many different ways to keep a home warm. The natural gas burning furnace is one of the most common, but there are exotic, advanced technologies like geothermal, and there are old classics like boiler systems too. In fact, boilers are still quite viable as a heating system, and these facts explain why.

Simplicity Still Works

While the basic premise behind boilers is far from complex, that very simplicity makes it incredibly reliable, especially with 21st-century technological tweaks.

The boiler concept is still the same; heating water, then sending that water throughout a building. That heat radiates out, warming up the air in a room.

However, instead of burning wood or coal to achieve this, modern systems now use either natural gas or electricity. This makes it quiet and very efficient.

It Doesn’t Have To Boil

While you’d expect something called a boiler to boil water, the majority of boilers today no longer have to do this.

You might still see the occasional “industrial strength boiler” literally taking water up to the boiling point to vaporize it into steam in industrial settings.

But the average home or business owner only needs the temperature of water to get to about 140 to do the job of heating a room.

No Extra Humidity

A gas furnace works by actually burning up natural gas in order to heat up air, much like a hot air balloon. This type of heating process naturally dries out air.

So if you use water to heat up a building, does that add water to the air? Not in this case.

Today’s boilers have the water tightly sealed up, so it never makes contact with the house air. Only the heat itself is transmitted.

It Needs Good Pressure

Boilers need to carry heated water into different parts of a building, so they rely on more traditional plumbing methods to do so.

This means pipes laid out to carry the hot water away, and water pressure that is required to ensure that water moves to its intended destination.

Good, consistent water pressure is essential for this. Too low means that heating takes longer, or might even indicate a leak somewhere, which should be quickly located and repaired.

A Great Investment

Purchasing a brand new heating system for a building is not something you can do with pocket change. But that sizable purchase is an investment that will pay for itself in both the long and short-term.

If your existing HVAC system is 20 years old, or more, you’ll see an immediate drop in your heating bills due to superior performance. But you’ll also add to your property value and your resale appeal.

Better Efficiency

High-quality boilers are about 90% efficient, which is only 5% behind similar quality furnaces. However, boilers don’t require air ducts to be installed, and they trump furnaces in one critical area.

When a furnace is on, it must heat the entire building. Boilers, however, have the option to heat individual rooms, meaning more savings if it’s not necessary to heat a whole home.

Living in Manchester, NH can mean needing to say cool or warm depending on the time of year. If you’re considering an HVAC upgrade, look at all of your options and don’t forget to keep boilers in view as one of them.