I am sure that we all have a pretty good idea of what home heating is, but since this since this is a site that is dedicated to Hvac Training I will have to go over this subject sooner or later. I am not going to get into the troubleshooting part of home heating, and this is for a couple of reasons. One, the most important one is that I am a Hvac Technician that works in central Florida, now how many heating service calls do you think I get? I get about 10-15 a year, so I am not the best when it comes to troubleshooting home heating systems.
I do know the basics though and a lot of the time that is enough to get the job done. Another reason I am not going to go over the troubleshooting part of home heating systems is there are too many to cover in just one little article, I would have to write a guide for every single one, cooling is a lot easier as there is mainly only one way that we cool a home, which is by the use of refrigerant.
The common types of heating that are found in residential homes and sometimes commercial buildings are gas and electric. Most home heating systems use a forced air heating system. This is when there is a central heater, or furnace that should be positioned in the center of the house, and from their air ducts spread throughout the home. The air is forced over the furnace, then it is distributed through the air ducts to heat the home. A lot of the times the forced air home heating systems will be tied in with the cooling system.
Gas home heating works the same way, but you have to light a pilot valve, on modern systems this is done by turning the switch on and adjusting the gas intake by using a thermostat. There are many types of gas home heating systems that are out there, I am the wrong person to be asking questions about this though as I have not had much experience with home heating systems that are ran off of gas.
There are also some types of forced air home heating systems that use a heat pump to heat a home, it is the same principle as cooling a home in the refrigeration cycle except the cycle is reversed. If you have ever worked on a heat pump before, then you should know that they are a lot of work and there are also a lot of things that can go wrong with them, so troubleshooting them can be a nightmare.
Perhaps, the most efficient way to heat a home, would be through radiant floor heating. Radiant floor heating consists of pipes or electric wires that are ran under the floor, the pipe will heat up and the radiant heat will rise, cooling the floor and also making the room a more stable temperature than using a forced air home heating system.
If you are having a home built from the ground up, the best way to go would be to get radiant floor heating installed, unless you plan on having carpet installed, which can be tricky because the carpet and the padding will act like insulation, so you will not get the full benefit of radiant floor heating. It is also noted that radiant floor heating can be up to 30% more energy efficient than using a forced air home heating system. Something to look into if you are having a house built from the ground up.
There are also many types of portable heaters that are out there, which would be good for a small room if there are no other types of home heating available. The problem I find with these are they can be dangerous if left on and unsupervised, unless they are securely mounted somewhere. The cheapest heating there is though, is to have a fireplace, because all you would need are some logs. The problem with a fireplace is it will not heat several rooms, only part of the room that it happens to be in. That is all the Hvac Training that I got for you today. If you have any questions or concerns then just drop me a comment.