An efficient heating system will not just lower utility costs. It will make the home more comfortable.
At the heart of most home heating systems is a furnace, a boiler or a heat pump. A furnace burns fossil fuel to heat air that’s forced by a blower fan through a series of ducts to the living spaces; a boiler heats water that’s then pumped to a hydronic, or water-based, distribution system. Most heat pumps run on electricity. They don’t create heat, but rather extract it from the air or the ground. Heat pumps are available for use with forced air and hydronic distribution systems. If you want to minimize your fuel bill, an Energy Star rating is a minimum standard for these appliances.
GAS FURNACE SUPER-EFFICIENT
A high-efficiency modulating gas furnace is the most efficient furnace you can get, with efficiencies as high as 97% (that’s the percentage of the fuel’s potential energy delivered as heat). They achieve this feat with a series of technical innovations.
For instance, a second heat exchanger recovers latent heat from the furnace exhaust by condensing it to water vapor, while a modulating valve varies flame intensity by varying the amount of gas delivered to the combustion chamber. Flame modulation is an energy saver for the same reason that using cruise control on the highway burns less gasoline than driving in stop-and-go traffic. These furnaces include variable speed blower fans with high-efficiency electric motors. The ability to vary airflow and flame intensity lets means nearly constant room temperatures and better air circulation.
A HIGH-EFFICIENCY MODULATING GAS FURNACE -
VIRTUES
> Uses less energy than a conventional gas furnace
> Variable speed technologies ensure more even temperatures throughout the home
CAVEATS
> Cost can be twice that of conventional furnace
HIGH-EFFICIENCY BOILER HOT WATER WIZ
A boiler burns oil, natural gas or propane to heat water. That heated water is then pumped through a system of pipes to radiators, baseboard heaters, or a radiant floor.
A good boiler will offer efficiencies of 90% to 95% and will include many of the same technologies as a high-efficiency furnace. These include a modulating burner that matches the heat output to whatever the thermostat is calling for at the moment, advanced heat exchangers to extract more heat from the same amount of fuel, and the ability to recover heat from the exhaust gas by condensing it. The resulting exhaust is cool enough to be vented out of a plastic pipe. In the best cases, this condensing process can squeeze 10%–12% more usable energy out of the fuel.
HIGH EFFICIENCY BOILER -
VIRTUES
> Quiet operation—no air blowing
> Relatively easy to zone
> Lack of fan means lower electric use than a forced air system
> Distribution system takes up much less space than ductwork
CAVEATS
> Up to 50% more expensive than a conventional boiler
> There are fewer high-efficiency boilers to choose from than there are high-efficiency furnaces
UPONOR MANIFOLD SYSTEM
As the central hub of a radiant hot water heating system, this Engineered Plastic (EP) Heating Manifold from Uponor is designed to resist corrosion and chlorine, It comes in several sizes (from 2 to 8 loops), includes attached flow meters, and accommodates 15.4 gallons per minute (gpm) of water flow.
www.uponor-usa.com
TRANE XL20I HEAT PUMP
The XL20i claims to be one of the most efficient heat pumps available, with a SEER rating of 19, and an HSPF of 9. It has two separate compressors: a smaller one for milder weather and a second, larger one for extremely hot days. It’s like having two units in one.
www.trane.com
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