See More AboutHow to lower heating billBoiler repairsInstall new furnace Heat prices are on the rise, but fortunately for homeowners, we have options to choose from when it comes to our heating systems. Boilers, furnaces and heat pumps are among the most popular options Americans choose, but sadly, few understand how each works. We will discuss how all three heating units work, the costs associated with installing and repairing, as well as other advantages and disadvantages for all boilers, furnaces and heat pumps. Not surprisingly, boilers boil water. A boiler heats water until it is hot. The hot water then flows through pipes to the various radiators or baseboard heaters you have in your home, which produce the heat that warms the room. A boiler is responsible for providing heat to your entire home. Heating systems are extremely important when it comes to a home so unsurprisingly, each system is expensive to install. Costs start around $2,000 for a new boiler. The increase in cost is proportionate to the space they are being used to heat.

Boiler installation costs average $4,321. Depending on your home, the boiler can pay for itself with savings in the first few years. top ac window unitsA condensing boiler will cost even more, often in excess of $5,000.do portable ac units use a lot of electricity As I referenced recently in Why Pithed Roofs Are Better Than Flat Roofs, homeowners can’t only look at the initial costs for home improvement. air handling unit locationYou need to look at the long-term value and expected future expenditures. Fortunately, according to our cost estimator, the average price for boiler repair is $335. Most boilers need some type of fuel to keep them running. The most common fuel types are oil and natural gas. These fuels can be expensive and especially pricey if your boiler is outdated or inefficient.

It is important to remember the amount of space the boiler is responsible for keeping warm compared to the amount of fuel being used. Be mindful of your energy and fuel bill when running your heat. This should tell you if your boiler is adequately efficient. Using a boiler with an electronic ignition, rather than a constantly running pilot light, is also a way to save energy costs when purchasing a boiler. Furnaces produce heat via coils instead of water. They use a fuel to heat a set of coils, according to Oliver heating experts. Furnaces then use a motorized blower to blow air across the coils. The air becomes warmed and then travels through your ducts. Electric furnaces are smaller but often less efficient than other types of furnaces. Some homeowners add accessories such as a humidifier and air purifier, which further increase the project cost. Overall, furnace installation tends to run homeowners around $3,600. Once again, do not be scared off by the large initial cost. Furnace maintenance averages $258.

To determine a furnace's efficiency, look up its AFUE, or Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency rating. The higher the AFUE value, the more efficient the furnace is. For example, a furnace with an AFUE of 60 converts 60% of the fuel to heat and loses 40% in the combustion process. For more information on AFUE, check out No. 11 on 13 Shocking Facts About Your HVAC System. Heat pumps use electricity to move heat from a cool area to a warm one, which makes the warm space warmer in the winter and the cool space cooler in the summer. Heat pumps can either increase or lower temperatures. A heat pump is a great way to increase overall energy efficiency in your home, which leads to lower monthly heating and cooling bills. Since a heat pump system replaces your existing furnace and air conditioning unit, heat pump installation costs average $4,888. No extra worries about repairs, as the average cost to repair heat pumps are on par with a boiler and furnace at $318. Luckily, if you ever decide to sell your home, having heat pumps in place can significantly boost your resale value.

Heat pumps are very simple. Rather then generating heat by itself, a heat pump takes warm air from cold areas and moves it to warm areas. Heat naturally moves to areas with lower temperatures, but if you want heat to stay or move to a specific room, a heat pump is ideal. Given that heat pumps do not generate heat themselves, you need a relatively warm climate outside. Therefore, heat pumps are not recommended in areas of extreme cold. As Oliver says, it requires transferring cold air from outside the home and warming it up for distribution inside the home. The colder the air outside of the home, the harder the heat pump has to work. Read more about HVAC installation and repair costs here.For anyone reading this page who thinks they’re about to get some really technical information on HVAC systems and their compatibility with various thermostats, I’m sorry to disappoint you. I don’t work in this industry, and I certainly don’t have the sort of knowledge a technician does.

However, since I have done my research regarding thermostats, I thought it would be prudent to at least pass on some of the information I’ve come across that’s really helped me. You see I thought it would be easy to find a model of thermostat to suit my needs and the needs of my HVAC system, however it transpires that the very first thing you must do is check what type of heating or cooling you have in your home. Of course, most thermostats will work with different systems, but you just might end up with a thermostat that won’t work with your system at all, or if it does you might cause damage to your equipment and that will only lead to an expensive repair job. So, there are various steps you need to take before you even start to think about the sorts of features you would like with a thermostat. This is what makes finding the right thermostat a bit of a headache, especially if you don’t have any technical experience. The main reason is there are a wide range of different systems on the market and this will determine what type of thermostat you can have.

For instance, you may have a gas furnace, electric baseboard, oil fired with a boiler or a heat pump based system (to name but a few). This may all sound very complicated but once you know what type of system you have there are only three different thermostats to choose from. Again you might be thinking there is “no light at the end of the tunnel” but if you know a few of the basic terms you’re likely to come across, it won’t be that difficult to determine which type of thermostat you need. You will more than likely come across the terms “one stage” and two stage” often, but just to help you a little further I’ve added the information below. There are ways you can check what both the type of system you have and how many stages it is, but this usually involves taking a look inside your current thermostat. This will give you the information you need but since this will also involve you having to deal with a power source to your system, if you’re not sure the best thing to do is ask a technician to help.

A side note also worth mentioning here is that If you are confident enough to check the system you have, it’s pretty easy to confirm what number of stages you have. You will have to look inside your current thermostat, and this is where you will more than likely be met with a series of numbers and letters. For systems that have more than one stage for cooling look out for wires that are attached to an “y1” and “y2” terminals. The same applies to a two stage furnace. If you have this, there will be wires attached to the “w1” and “w2” terminals. You may also want to check the information I have added on my , the videos all include wiring info so I’m sure this will help make you more confident. If you currently have a low voltage system, you can use most (if not all) of the systems I have reviewed on my site. Some models of programmable thermostats on the market will only work with one and two stage heating and one stage cooling, but the manufacturer usually states this in their description.