With winter approaching, it’s time to pay more attention to the system that keeps you and your family warm on those long, cold nights. It’s important to keep your furnace in top shape to avoid breakdowns when you need it most. You’ll be able to take better care of your heating system if you understand its main components.
Your home heating system consists of three key parts: the heat source, the air circulation system, and the thermostat.
- Heat source – The heat source is most often a furnace or heat pump. Fuel-based furnaces burn fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas or propane to generate heat, while electric furnaces convert electricity to heat through a system of heating elements inside the unit. Heat pumps pull heat out of the air or ground and use it to warm your house.
- Air circulation system – This is the ductwork, the extensive network of large pipes that carries heated air to and from points throughout your home. The warm air is forced through the supply ducts by blower fans that are strong enough to send the heated air to the farthest point of the duct network. There, it exits into your house through vents or registers. Air comes back to the heating system through return ducts that bring cool air to the furnace to be heated and circulated again.
- Thermostat – The thermostat is the device that controls when the furnace turns off and on. When the temperature in your house falls below the level you’ve set at the thermostat, the device sends a signal that activates the furnace. Most thermostats are either older-style units with a mercury switch and metallic internal thermometers or newer programmable digital models. Programmable thermostats give you much better control over when and how long your home heating system operates.
For more than 30 years, Ace Hardware Home Services, Inc. has provided trustworthy heating and cooling services to Dayton and the surrounding area. Contact us todayfor information on home heating, for a quote on a new household system, or to schedule an installation.
Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about household heating systems and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.
Ace Hardware Home Services services the Ohio’s Miami Valley. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!
