Living in the north, right along the Canadian border and in close proximity to one of the Great Lakes, means a lot of extremely cold and wet weather.
My local area is often referred to as the “snow belt.” Our weather forecast regularly includes snow flurries, blizzard conditions, weather advisories, white-outs and freezing rain.
Temperatures down to twenty below zero are no surprise, and the heating system runs for approximately eight months of the year. For our conditioning, a boiler is ideal. While a furnace uses air to convey heat energy, a boiler uses water. This provides unique benefits. Water heats up faster than air, retains heat longer and won’t cause issues with insufficient humidity. A furnace continually introduces new air into the space that is often contaminated with dust, bacteria and other harmful toxins. A boiler utilizes a closed loop system, circulating the same water through the pipes and eliminating any chance of drawing in allergens. A furnace blasts hot air from vents that tends to rise straight up to the ceiling. A boiler works by infusing heat into the hair. The process avoids drafts and stratification. It creates a very gentle and consistent comfort with the warmest temperatures closer to the floor. There is no need to arrange furniture to accommodate supply and return vents. Boilers are wonderfully versatile, linking to any combination of radiators, baseboard heaters and radiant flooring. They offer the easy set-up of zone control and will even supply an outdoor snowmelt system. One of the only drawbacks of hydronic heating is the lack of a central air conditioning option. In my location, there is no need for whole-house cooling. We focus on powerful, reliable and energy efficient heating. For that, a boiler is ideal.