Radiant Heating and Convection Heating are the two primary types of ways we heat our houses. FORCED AIR HEATINGConvection heating means moving hot air -- what we usually call a forced air heating system simply heats air and moves it around the house through a system of fans and ducts. Forced air...
An e-mail from Roger in Cambelleville Ontario:We have just started to build our home (3300 sq. ft.) and I recently found out that natural gas is not available. So the great debate begins on what fuel source to use. I have narrowed down my selection to radiant heat using a propane to heat the ...
-- Air-source heat pumps derive their heat from a radically varying heat source -- outside air. The colder it gets outside the less efficient they get, declining rapidly from 0 degrees C and generally being unable to heat a house at minus 15 degrees C. Therefore, they require a backup heate...
Heat pumps, although not invented in the United States, were highly developed there for air conditioning. It was discovered that they could be operated in reverse and provide heat to houses in winter as well. For these reasons it is not surprising that certain design characteristics reflect...
Heat pumps of the future will be the key to effective use of "low-grade heat".-- They will be included in the exhaust of HRV ventilation systems to extract that last little bit of usable heat before throwing the stale air out. The exhaust air will probably leave the house colder than the wint...
Leo from Kirkland, Quebec has been living a nightmare with his new house and his air source heat pump. He has put over $5,000 into heat pump repairs in the first 7 years and that doesn't count what was replaced for free because of warranties. Compressors kept burning out and valves gave out...
All air conditioners have a passage for room air to flow into the unit, flow over the cold side of the compressor coil and return to the room. This both cools the air and condenses some of the moisture out of the room air, which makes the room dryer, more comfortable and easier to cool. Wit...
Water-source heat pumps work the same as any other heat pump in principle, but instead of having a radiator sitting outdoors, a pump pulls water out of some underground water source or lake, runs it through a radiator inside your basement, and dumps it into a second well in the ground or back int...
Building codes require that a heating system be able to just barely maintain a comfortable house during the coldest day of the year. Hence the size of the heating system depends not only on the size of the house but on where it is located and how well it is winterized (sealed and insulated). The ...
All-Electric heating can mean many things: baseboard heating / baseboard with split head high wall mounted non-ducted heat pumps / an electric central forced air furnace with or without a heat pump / or an electric central boiler for a hydronic system.
If you are thinking of removing your Oil o...
