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Home Heating Systems - South Bend Indiana, Mishawaka, Granger and Elkhart, licensed in southern Michigan and all of Michiana
Home heating systems are essential to keep you warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It also helps protect you from allergens and pollutants year round.
A home comfort system is made up of four major components: a thermostat, a furnace, an air conditioner or a heat pump and an indoor air quality system.
Heating for home is, understandably, different than creating a heating system for commercial purposes. Retail and commercial heating systems are normally set up to accommodate more frequent opening and closing of exterior doors, and must be able to respond to that varying demand.
Home heating system: How does it work?
Starting with the thermostat, the command center for your heating system, when the temperature inside drops below or rises above the thermostat setting, the thermostat signals your comfort system to kick on or increase power.
In the case of the furnace, whenever the temperature gets too cold, the thermostat starts the fan motor so that the system’s fan can begin drawing room air through vents and ductwork. When air reaches the furnace cabinet, it passes through a filter, air cleaner or other air quality system. It also moves through a heat exchanger, which warms the air. Then, heated air is blown back into ducts and living areas.
During summer months, the furnace is still working, even though it’s not heating rooms or burning fuel. It acts as an air delivery system for the air conditioner, located outside the home.
So how does the air get cooled?
When the thermostat senses the temperature is too warm, it activates the air conditioner compressor, which pumps refrigerant through a loop of piping that runs between the outside air-conditioning unit and indoor cooling coil. As refrigerant passes through the cooling coil, typically installed on top of the furnace, heat is extracted from the indoor air circulating around it. The furnace blower then sends the conditioned air to living spaces through ductwork.
That’s basically how a home comfort system works. Keep in mind, not all systems are created equal.
Heat pumps and most central air conditioners are called "split systems" because there is an outdoor unit (called a condenser) and an indoor unit (an evaporator coil). The job of the heat pump or air conditioner is to transport heat from one of these units to the other. In the summer, for example, the system extracts heat from indoor air and transfers it outside, leaving cooled indoor air to be re-circulated through your ducts by a fan.
The compressor in your outdoor unit changes gaseous refrigerant into a high temperature, high-pressure gas. As that gas flows through the outdoor coil, it loses heat. That makes the refrigerant condense into a high temperature, high pressure liquid that flows through copper tubing into the evaporator coil located in your fan coil unit or attached to your furnace.
At that point, the liquid refrigerant is allowed to expand, turning the liquid refrigerant into a low temperature, low pressure gas. The gas then absorbs heat from the air circulating in your home's ductwork, leaving it full of cooler air to be distributed throughout the house. Meanwhile, the low temperature, low pressure refrigerant gas returns to the compressor to begin the cycle all over again.
While your air conditioner or heat pump cools the air, it also dehumidifies it. That's because warm air passing over the indoor evaporator coil cannot hold as much moisture as it carried at a higher temperature, before it was cooled. The extra moisture condenses on the outside of the coils and is carried away through a drain. The process is similar to what happens on a hot, humid day, when condensed moisture beads up on the outside of a glass of cold lemonade.
The same process works in reverse in a heat pump during the winter. The heat pump takes heat out of the outside air - or out of the ground, if you have a geothermal heat pump --- and it moves that heat inside, where it is transferred from the evaporator coil to the air circulating through your home. The heat pump moves heat from outside to warm your home, even on a cold day. That's because "cold" is a relative term. Air as cold as 30 degrees still contains a great deal of heat - the temperature at which air no longer carries any heat is well below -200 degrees Fahrenheit. A heat pump's heat exchanger can squeeze heat out of cold air, and then transfer that heat into your home with the help of a fan which circulates the warm air through your ducts.
Heat pumps are often installed with back-up electric resistance heat or a furnace to handle heating requirements when more heat is needed than the heat pump can efficiently extract from the air.
Factoring SIZE into the Equation
Bigger isn’t necessarily better when it comes to heating and cooling systems. A system that is too large for your home will frequently cycle on and off, which wastes energy. Plus, it won’t run long enough to remove humidity from the air, which can impact the comfort and health of your home.
A system that is too small can’t do its job of making you comfortable. In this case, it will run continuously to keep up with the thermostat setting, costing you more on your utility bills and potentially shortening the system’s life.
The only reliable way to determine the size that best matches the needs of your home is to have us perform a load calculation, which takes into account the square footage of your house, the insulation value of your windows, the amount of insulation in your walls and roof and many other factors.
To find the best product match for your home, call Four Winds Custom Heating & Air Conditioning!
Repair? Replace? You may want to consider making a change if:
- Some of your rooms are too hot or cold. Duct problems, inadequate air sealing or insulation could be the cause. No matter how efficient your heating and cooling system is, if your home is not properly sealed and insulated against air leakage, you will not be as comfortable and your system will have to work harder.
- Your home has humidity problems and/or excessive dust. Poorly operating or improperly sized equipment could be to blame. Leaky ductwork can also cause these problems, so having it sealed may be a solution. Monthly maintenance of your heating and cooling equipment’s filters may also help.
- Your cooling system is noisy. Your duct system could be improperly sized or there may be a problem with the indoor coil of your cooling equipment.
- Your equipment needs frequent repairs and your energy bills are going up. In addition to the rise in energy costs, the age and condition of your heating and cooling equipment may have caused it to become less efficient.
- Your air conditioner or heat pump is more than 12 years old. Consider replacing it with newer, more efficient equipment. And, remember, high efficiency levels begin with ENERGY STAR.
- Your furnace or boiler is more than 15 years old. Consider replacing it with ENERGY STAR® qualified equipment. ENERGY STAR has set high efficiency guidelines for both types of heating systems.
- You leave your thermostat set at one constant temperature. You could be missing a great energy-saving opportunity. A programmable thermostat adjusts your home’s temperature at times when you’re regularly away or sleeping.
- Your score on the ENERGY STAR Home Energy Yardstick is below five. That means you’re using more energy at home than most Americans and probably paying more than you need to on energy bills. Get personalized recommendations to improve your home and/or heating and cooling system. Find the Home Energy Yardstick at www.energystar.gov. Click on Home Energy Analysis.
Source: “A Guide to Energy-Efficient Heating and Cooling,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency