Winter can hit hard in the Hudson Valley. You want to know that your home has a heating system you can count on. It’s also important to know how your heating system works to heat your home. Let’s take a look at how a boiler heats your home—and whether it’s the same thing as a furnace.
Boilers use hot water or steam to heat your home. For this reason, a boiler is called a hydronic heating system. A boiler can either be a hot water boiler or a steam boiler.
If you have a hot water boiler, your boiler burns fuel to heat water. That hot water is then pumped through pipes to baseboards, radiators, in-floor radiant tubing, or other sealed hydronic devices throughout your Hudson Valley home. Then the water returns to the unit and the cycle repeats.
If you have a steam boiler, the process is very similar to that of a hot water boiler. However, in the case of a steam boiler, the water is converted to steam before being circulated throughout your home.
Boilers run quietly and generate comfortable warmth. They don’t rely on fans or blowers, so they don’t contribute to the blowing of dust, dirt, or allergens in the air.
Some people use the words “boiler” and “furnace” interchangeably. However, while both can heat your home, boilers and furnaces are different. They perform the same function of heating your home, but they do it in two different ways. We’ve already explored how a boiler works. It heats steam or water that gets transported throughout your home to provide heat. Now let’s look at how a furnace works so you can have a fuller appreciation for these two different home heating systems.
While boilers use hot water or steam to heat your home, furnaces are forced air systems. Furnaces burn fuel to heat air. That heated air is then pushed through a system of ducts that lead to vents throughout your home.
There’s an easy way to tell if a home uses a boiler or furnace for heat. Check for radiators and vents. If the home has radiators (or baseboards), then a boiler provides heat for that home. If the home has vents, then a furnace heats that home.
Keeping your home comfortably warm is very important. So is getting maintenance for your boiler. Bottini Fuel offers equipment service plans that include boiler maintenance and will ensure you avoid expensive repairs and get as much efficiency as possible out of your heating system.
If you’re in the market for a new boiler, the knowledgeable sales team and technicians at Bottini Fuel can help you find the right boiler for your home’s size and budget. We even offer free estimates.
Bottini Fuel installs high-efficiency boilers, and our selection of boilers includes the world’s most trusted brands. And when you trust your boiler installation to Bottini Fuel, we’ll make sure to get your boiler up and running quickly, and we won’t leave a mess.
With your newly installed boiler, you’ll start saving immediately on your annual energy bills. In fact, you could save as much as 30%.
Bottini Fuel has over 70 years of experience keeping our customers comfortable and safe in their homes.
Contact us today to learn more or request a free estimate. With locations serving New York’s Hudson Valley as well as parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, we’re here for you.
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