So, you just moved into your first home and its your first cold night. You go to switch the heat on and it doesn’t work. You call Boyle Energy and the voice on the other end of the phone asks if you have a boiler or furnace and you are stumped. Don’t be ashamed if you don’t know the answer to this question. The answer is simple, a furnace heats air and a boiler heats water. But how do you know if you are heating air or water? Take a look around your house, do you have ductwork? Does your ductwork blow warm air out in the winter? If it does, you probably have a furnace. If your house is heater by a boiler, you are more likely to see baseboards or radiators. The warm water moves through the pipes in these and uses fins to distribute the heat from the water into the air of the room.
Which is better? Each system has a list of pros and cons and your house will help dictate what is best for your situation. If you have ducts already installed for air condition a furnace is the way to go. Furnaces can heat a house quickly and to high temperatures. Since they are heating air you do need to make sure the filter in your heater is clean from debris to help with allergies and air quality. Some say that furnaces require more frequent repair then boilers and that boilers can go longer without routine maintenance. But at the same time boilers take longer to heat a room and occasionally need to be bled to remove excess air from the system that can cause the water to not heat.
Knowing the type of system can help you make better decisions but as always if you have any questions feel free to call Boyle Energy
