If you live in Washington, it gets very cold during winter and you will need to consider installing an efficient heating system for your home. Most of the newer homes will probably have a central air conditioning and heating unit but there are alternatives like central heating which is powered by a centralized boiler or furnace which can be very efficient and economical.
When considering a type of Washington heating system to install it is important to understand how they all compare when it comes to the cost of installation, the cost of the fuel to run the system and the maintenance requirements and servicing costs. There are other factors such as health concerns which can be an issue with forced air heating where air is blown around and can cause allergic reactions in people. Let's take a look at the three most common types of Dana's Heating & Cooling installations:
Water Based Central Heating
There is a lot of work involved with central heating as radiators, pipes and a central boiler or furnace have to be installed in your Washington home. Many pipes connecting all radiators to the boiler need to be installed and this can take many days depending on the size of your home. Some people do not like radiators as take up a fair amount of space in the home and are hardly a thing of beauty. The installation costs for central heating is high due to the amount of hardware (boiler, pipes and radiators) required and the labor time needed to complete the installation. Once installed, the running costs are usually quite low and they normally need servicing once a year.
Forced Air System
Again this uses a central furnace where air is pushed around your home using a series of ducts. This also requires extensive installation work as the ducts need to be installed as well as the central furnace. A high efficiency furnace can be used for forced air installations. These furnaces can run on gas, electricity or oil and do not require the use of a chimney for ventilation. These furnaces are efficient to run and can last up to twenty years if serviced regularly. One of the major disadvantages with the forced air system is the circulation of the air around the house can be problematic for those suffering with allergic conditions and germs can spread very rapidly.
Electric Baseboard Heating
The installation costs with electric baseboard heating are a lot lower than with forced air or water based central heating. Each room will have separate units installed and the temperature of each room can be controlled and set differently which is a big plus. The problem with this type of heating installation is the running costs which can be ridiculously high especially in the coldest winter months. The other disadvantage of this form of heating is that the air in the rooms can become very dry and the best way to fix this is to place humidifiers in each room to create moisture. This is an additional expense of course.
All of the systems above have advantages and disadvantages. Whichever one you choose make sure that you maintain it properly so that it keeps you warm in those bitterly cold winters.
