When winter arrives, one of the most important things for your home or your workplace is making sure your building stays warm.
And while gas furnaces are one of the most common ways to do this for modern buildings, there’s an old but still viable technology that’s quite effective; boilers.
How Do Boilers Work?
Boilers work on a very simple principle, despite being thoroughly modernized for 21st century needs. They just heat up water.
That’s it! That hot water is then circulated through a series of pipes to every room in a home or place of work.
When the water arrives at its destination, that heat naturally radiates, warming the air. This is quite different from a furnace, which must warm the air within the furnace itself, then pump it into vents to warm up rooms.
Do Boilers Really Boil?
They used to, but in general terms, for the consumer market, the answer these days is mostly, “no.”
Some boilers still live up to their name, boiling water to the point where it vaporizes into steam, but that’s usually for very specific industrial purposes.
For just keeping homes and businesses comfortable, boilers will use either electricity or gas to heat water up to a temperature of about 140° which is the ideal temperature for general comfort purposes.
No Wet Air
There may be some concern that introducing boilers into an environment will mean more humidity in the air due to the “water-based” heating.
However, this is not going to be the case. The only time air becomes humid with boilers is if there is a leak that introduces actual liquid into rooms.
In fact, with modern systems, there’s no impact on humidity at all. It was only with older cast iron boilers that air was affected, and that made the air drier because it was using air within the building as combustion fuel to heat up the water.
You Need Constant Pressure
One thing that boilers do have in common with other plumbing systems is a need for reliable, consistent pressure.
This means that water is being effectively circulated throughout a building, ensuring proper heat transmission. Low water pressure reduces the efficiency and effectiveness of heating. In the worst scenario, low water pressure is caused by a leak, so it’s never a good thing.
It’s Cost Effective
There are also financial benefits to getting a new boiler, especially if you’re making a big upgrade from much older HVAC equipment.
Switching out an older system from the 20th century for modern boilers is always a good investment.
Not only does the new system lower your energy bills, but it can add value to your property, making it much more appealing for resale.
Increased Efficiency
The best gas burning furnaces achieve about 95% efficiency on using resources, but boilers come surprisingly close, with 90% operational efficiency. More importantly, boiler systems can be controlled from room to room.
However, gas furnaces must heat the entire building regardless of which rooms are actually in use. If your home or place of business in Brookline, MA is a candidate for an HVAC upgrade to a modern heating system, look over all your options.
You might be surprised to see that boilers are something that meets your heating needs at home or work.
