What you need to know about heating

Winter in Washington is a beautiful time of year. To be able to enjoy it in the comfort of your home, you need an efficient and reliable heating system. Sadly, many homes are not able to maintain warmth in winter conditions, and of those that do, many pay a high cost for fuel. We understand different homes have different heating needs. Having a properly designed and installed heating system from Air 1 Heating makes a significant difference.

Central heating systems contain a boiler, furnace, or heat pump to heat water, steam, or air, all in a central location such as a furnace room. The system contains either ductwork, if a forced air system, or piping to distribute heated water, and radiators to transfer this heat to the air. A furnace produces heat through the combustion of natural gas in the furnace’s burner. The heat produced by this then passes through a heat exchanger. The air from your home’s return air ducts is blown over the heat exchanger and warms the air. Then the furnace’s blower blows the warmed air into the ductwork, carrying and dispersing the warmed air throughout the home. During the warmer months, the blower located inside the furnace will continue to circulate return air throughout the home. The return air is cooled by being blown over the indoor coil portion in the split-system air conditioning system.

At Air 1 Heating we most often install or upgrade one of the following types of systems:

Forced Hot Air: Forced air systems send heated air through ductwork. The forced air can also be filtered or put through air cleaners. This method is most commonly identified by the presence of floor and wall registers. The advantage of this method is during warm weather your air conditioning systemcan share the same ductwork and certain equipment as your central heating system.

Forced Hot Water: Forced hot water systems are usually heated by gas or oil-fired boilers. Occasionally they may use immersion-type electric resistance heating coils. These coils replace the burner found in gas and oil-fired boilers. The hot water pump and distribution piping for electrically heated systems are similar to those of gas and oil-fired hot water systems. This method is commonly identified by baseboards along exterior walls. The advantage of this method it is inexpensive to install and in smaller homes can work off the same power plant as the water heater.

The forced hot water distribution system consists of distribution piping, radiators, and control valves. Distribution piping may be one of three types: series loop, one-pipe, and two-pipe.

Series-loop system: Radiators are connected by one pipe directly in a series. Since the last radiator will receive cooler water than the first, downstream radiators are typically larger; however the system can be divided into small zones to overcome this issue.

One-pipe system: The radiators are not connected in series, but instead, each radiator is separately attached to the water distribution pipe using a diverter fitting to regulate the amount of hot water entering it.

Two-pipe system: Use separate pipes for supply and return water to ensure a small temperature differential between radiators, regardless of their location. Using a One-pipe or Two-pipe system, individual room temperature control is possible; however a change in the valve adjustment on one radiator will affect the performance of other radiators downstream.

Energy Efficiency: How efficient a furnace is can be determined by its AFUE (Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency.) In the U.S., the minimum efficiency for furnaces is 80% AFUE. This means for every $1.00 spent heating the home, $0.80 are applied to the generation of warmth. 

Cleaner Air: As the heating system draws air out through the return air ducts in the rooms in the house, the air is pulled through an air filter, which removes airborne particles like dust and lint. Sophisticated filters may also remove microscopic pollutants. The filtered air is then routed to air supply ducts that carry it back to rooms.

Want to know more on the basics of air conditioning systems? Watch this video.

Air 1 Heating has installed hundreds of central air systems in homes throughout Puget Sound. With our skilled technicians, exceptional service, and reasonable prices, our company and its employees are committed to your satisfaction.

Adding air conditioning to your home can be a good investment, make it a great one with a system from Air 1 Heating. A good night’s sleep is just a phone call away.

Call us today at 360.829.5159 to arrange for a no-obligation evaluation of your cooling needs and a FREE estimate.