Skip to main content

Boiler vs Furnace: What do I have?

By

Boilers use Water while Furnaces use Air to Heat Homes.

When the cold air hits and the familiar sound of the heating system isn't heard, it's time to have your heating system looked at and possibly replaced.  A common issue that comes about is what kind of heating system do I have, a boiler or a furnaces and what is the difference?

Well there is a big difference between the two, first is the efficiency and how the each equipment heats the home. Boilers use water or steam, while furnaces use air to heat the home. This is where the terms forced hot air or forced hot water come from, as the system will force heated water through base boards or radiators or heated air through duct work.

Boilers traditionally are more energy efficient than furnaces due to the delivery of the heated source.  There is a lower amount of energy loss from piping involved with a boiler than the duct work that is required for a furnace.  The energy energy rating for your heating system is represented as an annual fuel utilization efficiency or AFUE.  The AFUE for most boilers is actually lower than furnaces, this is because the AFUE rating doesn't take in consideration heat loss through the duct work. Heat loss from the duct work in your home can account for 30% your heating use.

However furnaces allow for an easier installation of a central air condition system, much much easier.  Central air conditioners require duct work to deliver the cool air. This is almost impossible with a boiler without expensive duct work that would just be used during hot months here in the Northeast.  

The easiest way to tell the difference is go into your basement, go to your heating system, if the system is tall and rectangular in shape you have a furnace.  The top of furnace should connect to duct work that will distribute the heated air through the home.  This should not be confused with a chimney, as boilers and furnaces need to vent in air to keep their flames going.

Written by:

Robert Stahelski

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The C-Wire

By
Smart Thermostats almost always require them. The internet of things is on the rise and one of the easiest and most useful applications of this is the smart thermostat. Popular smart thermostats that come to mind at the Nest, Ecobee, and the Honeywell Lyric most of these and other smart thermostats that come with WiFi. Installing these thermostats can be tricky due to the C-Wire or Common Wire. For thermostat installations you need to have a set of wires that run from your heating and/or cooling system to your thermostat(s). In instances where you just have a boiler or furnace without the ability to cool you see a thermostat with just two wires, red and white. If you have a cooling system with your heating system you'll most commonly find the thermostats using 4 wires. If you add a smart thermostat you're going to need a fifth wire, the c-wire. C-wires help delivery more power to the thermostat to power the Wi-Fi functions. Adding this wire can be difficult as it requ...
Post a Comment
Read more

La Nina Summer

By
We Could Experience much Warmer Temps this Summer Last year and even the year before that we talked about El Nino and boy did it come, we saw one of the mildest winters this past winter. Now what, El Nino is the warming of the waters in the pacific, but what happens after the water has warmed? After the warm has warmed, it naturally cools off this is called La Nina. Traditionally La Nina follows El Nino's and present the opposite effects of El Nino. Of course La Nina don't always follow El Nino's, in the past we've seen El Nino's that extend into the next winter or La Nina's that extend for several years. For this year most weather outlets are predicting that we'll see a La Nina arrive around Fall or Winter. To understand what we might see this summer we have to look at last year. For 2015 we didn't see the real El Nino until mid fall and it continued through mid winter, but its effects were seen during the summer.  It brought us unseas...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wi-Fi and Programmable thermostat

By
Control your Home Comfort with a Programmable Thermostat This past week I bought a wifi thermostat to replace the programmable thermostat that controls the first floor of my home. During installation I found out that currenting wiring is not compatible with my new wifi thermostat. This is going to become a common issue issue as wifi thermostats become cheaper and more common in homes.  The big question is what is the difference between a programmable thermostat and a wifi thermostat and what is the benefit. Programmable thermostats are a great way to help you save on your energy usage and tailor your heating and cooling to your needs.  Most programmable thermostats allow you to schedule a week schedule with 4 time point throughout each day. This allows you to schedule when your heat or cooling will turn on for during the weekdays and the weekends and at what time each day. The best times for the schedule to run would be before you wake up, when you leave for work, before...
Post a Comment
Read more