Furnaces are so common in homes that it’s often easy to talk about “home heating” and only refer to a furnace. However, it isn’t a safe assumption to make that a household uses a furnace for comfort during the winter. There are other options available. If you’re in the market for a new heating system this fall, you might be interested in an alternative to the natural gas furnace. Let’s take a look some of them.
Electric furnace
If your home doesn’t have a natural gas line, you can still have a furnace installed. Electric furnaces are reliable and cost less for initial installation. However, they can be expensive to run and don’t have the heating performance of gas furnaces.
Heat pump
This is often the better choice for homes that don’t have natural gas lines. Heat pumps are two-in-one systems that offer a home both heating and cooling. They operate like standard air conditioning systems that circulate refrigerant—the big difference is they can reverse the direction they run so they can also move heat into a home. Heat pumps have high energy efficiency during winter, although in extreme cold weather they can sometimes struggle.
Radiant heater
This group includes any system that sends heat through a home by raising the temperature of objects in the rooms, rather than blowing around heated air from vents. Most radiant heating systems use hot water from a boiler sent to radiators and baseboard heaters. There are also floor-heating systems, which are among the most comfortable of heaters available today.
Geothermal heat pump
Want to take a big step toward energy-savings with your year-round comfort—and go green at the same time? Then look into geothermal heat pumps!
So what’s the best option for your home? You won’t know until you talk to professionals. Let our team of HVAC experts guide you toward the heating system that meets your comfort needs while fitting your budget.
For advice on your heating options and for great installation, contact Comfort Flow Heating in Eugene, OR.
