Home Shoppers Guide To Home Heating Options
If you’ve ever been house hunting and found the house you really wanted was almost perfect except for the fact that it was heated by electric baseboard heaters or radiators, you maybe didn’t need to necessarily walk away from the deal. Although this is a deterrent for most potential home buyers, it also presents an opportunity for those willing to look beyond the potentially high-monthly electricity bill. In a seller’s market for example, you’ll likely face less competition when bidding for a home with electric heat, and a studious buyer can investigate supplement sources of heating for their dream home.
Here are the ways most homes are heated today:
- Forced Air Furnaces – most North American homes rely on this for their primary/only source of heat – it can be either natural gas (cheapest) or oil (most expensive) – 60-70% fuel-efficient
- Boilers – boilers use a system of heated hot water pipes or radiant floor tubes to heat the house, the boiler itself heated by oil or gas
- Heat Pumps – are good for both heating & cooling a home (like reversing an air conditioner), but also require ductwork like furnaces – can be used with geothermal heating & cooling
- Natural Gas /Propane Fireplaces (vented to the outside) – can be very efficient if installed in the right places
- Electric Fireplaces -many luxury home owners have installed wall-mounted or mantle electric fire simulated fireplaces -although they do produce a fair amount of heat, they are mainly for show and not as efficient as gas fireplaces
- Portable Electric Space Heaters – a very common source of secondary heat in most homes
- Electric Baseboard Heating – like space heaters but typically permanently installed – most expensive way to heat a home -the only advantage is the ability to control the temperature in each room
- Wood-Burning Stoves / Pellet Stoves – inefficient source of heat and constantly requires adding a source of fuel
- Ductless Heat Pumps – becoming a new source of heating and cooling in ductless homes
If you are shopping for a new home or want to supplement/upgrade your current home’s heating situation, consider adding one of these secondary sources.
If gas is available on the street of the home you’ve purchased, you’re best option may be to supplement you’re home heat with a vented gas fireplace which can greatly reduce your electricity bill if the warm air is drawn to the places that need it such as with electric fans. If they are on the outside walls of the home, gas fireplaces or ductless heat pumps could be a great option, and can help to get your heating bill down closer to that of furnace-heated homes. Talk to a professional Heating Ontario HVAC installer today at 647-591-2683 to discuss your options, or fill out the form below for a free quote to see how you can save literally $1000s of dollars on your yearly heating bill.