T&S Heating Blog

There are many ways through which a central heating system in a house or a building can be powered. The conventional method however is powering the central heating system via the main gas pipeline. This is a very efficient fuel but it’s drawbacks are plenty for example in a relatively colder area, gas pressure could be minimal which might not produce the required energy to heat the water and hence get the central heating system going. Another major drawback is gas availability; certain areas might not even have gas supply to begin with which could be a huge issue.

Oil as a fuel

The alternative to the gas powered central heating system is powering it with oil. Oil is a more readily available “off the shelf” fuel alternative and can be accessed. The oil burns the furnace which in turn heats the water that goes on to heat the whole building.

Why choose oil as a fuel?

The question one may ask is “why should someone choose oil as fuel instead of gas or other alternatives?” The answer to this question is, as mentioned earlier, the readily available factor amongst other factors that overweigh other alternatives. The first and the foremost advantage of using oil to fuel a central heating system is its effectiveness and production efficiency. Almost all of the oil is consumed to promote its efficiency and hence work the whole heating system in a much better way. Another very important advantage is the fact that a central heating system that uses oil as a fuel is easier to maintain and in due time easier to replace. It isn’t a complex unit so cleaning it or giving it an overhaul is easier than cleaning a central heating system that uses gas as fuel. TS heating, who are experts in this business would and should be your first choice company to go to.

One of the major drawbacks however of using oil as fuel is its cost. In the wake of the global inflation spree and rising oil prices, even though the system is easier to install and easier to maintain, the cost of acquiring this fuel may or may not outweigh the benefits. This factor should always be considered before deciding whether to install a heating system that uses gas or getting a heating system that uses oil to fuel it. TS heating has always been a name people have trusted, and there is no reason why you shouldn’t either.

Central heating systems are vital in every household as they provide a better and healthier lifestyle for the residents of the house.

What is Central Heating?

Central heating system is the system in which air and water is heated at a central furnace and sent through the building through pipes and/or ventilators. Central heating provides warmth to entire buildings and this system is often combined into the HVAC system – which accounts for heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Central heating can replace uneven, old fashioned heating in older homes. Older homes use older methods of heating, such as radiant heating systems or under floor heating systems, in which heat is basically emitted through warm elements such as floors or walls. This type of technology for central heating is now outdated, as it provides uneven heating – and does not heat entire rooms properly.

Radiant heating systems can be simply replaced by the most common of heating systems, the Conventional Gravity Fed System.

What is the Conventional Gravity Fed System?

It may sound complicated, but the Gravity Fed System is basically the central heating system in which water is heated by your boiler.  This water is then consequently pumped to your central radiators or your hot water storage cylinder where the water is then heated.

The water you obtain is usually stored from a small tank situated in the loft of your home. This tank is called the Feed and Expansion tank. The hot water cylinder is supplied from another larger tank often situated in the loft. As you open a hot tap, water drawn from the cylinder is replenished by this tank. Because the tank is in the loft, and therefore isolated from the main supply by a valve, gravity is the only force making the water go down the household. That is why it is called the Gravity Fed System.

Advantages of the Gravity Fed System include the exceptional flow rate of the water and the fact that installing this system is relatively cheap as all you need for it work is a boiler, a hot water cylinder, loft tanks, rads.

Where can you get this Gravity Fed System?

TS Heating & Cooling provides all types of heating and cooling systems in almost all household homes. TS heating also provide excellent service, complete functionality and will fix any problems you encounter with your heating/cooling systems.

Electric central heating systems use a single electrical appliance to generate enough heat to warm up a whole building. This warmth is then distributed throughout the building by forcing the heated air through ductwork.

There are two types of electric central heating appliances:

1) electric resistance heaters, and 2) heat pumps.

Electric resistance heaters work by applying an electrical current to electric resistance elements. The electric elements respond by generating heat. Fans inside the heater produce a warm airflow by blowing air over the warmed up heating elements. The fans then force the warmed air through supply ducts to the area where heating is required.

Heat pumps operate on an entirely different principle. Heat pumps do not generate heat. Instead, heat pump systems extract heat from the outside, transfer that warmth into the heating system, and disperse the warm air through the building via ductwork. Heat pumps can also provide air conditioning by reversing their operation. In the summer, they pull heat from the inside air and pump it outside.

The two most common types of heat pumps use different sources for their heat exchange.

Air-source heat pumps transfer heat between the outside air and the interior of the building. For these heat pumps to operate efficiently, they must be located in an area that has mild winters. When the temperature dips below freezing, air-sourced heat pumps are not cost-effective

Geothermal heat pumps take their heat from an underground source, either water or earth. Because underground temperatures remain relatively stable throughout the year, geothermal heat pumps can still be efficient when air temperatures fall below freezing. The initial cost of these systems can be expensive compared to air-source heat pumps because the installer must bury parts of the system underground. However, the underground components have an expected lifetime of over 50 years, and the lower operating cost of the geothermal system will pay for the higher installation expense in 5-10 years.

In general, electric central heating systems are more expensive to operate than using gas, propane, or oil heating systems. However, electric systems can be cost-effective in locations where winters are mild and cheap electricity is available.

Choosing the right electric heating system is also important. For example, compared to other methods of heating, electric resistance heating is very expensive. However, according to the US Department of Energy, heat pumps use 30-40% less electricity than electric resistance heat. Call TS Heating to find out which electric central heating system is suitable for your home or business.

Central gas heating uses a combustible gas to fuel a central heating appliance. This device can be located remotely from the area that the appliance heats. Either hot water pipes or forced-air ductwork then moves the heat from the appliance to the rest of the building.

There are two types of central gas heating appliances. Customers can choose between a furnace and a boiler. A furnace burns gas to heat air. Fans blow the warmed air through a ductwork system to distribute the heat to the interior of the building.

In a boiler-based system, the boiler burns gas to heat water. A pump circulates the hot water through pipes to the locations throughout the building that require heat. Radiators in these locations transfer heat from the hot water into the room. Some hot water circulating systems also provide radiant floor heating. Heat rises into the room from the hot water running through pipes installed underneath the floor.

A thermostat located in the interior of the building controls how often the furnace or boiler cycles on and off based on the current temperature in the room. The thermostat can be set to a constant temperature or adjusted as heating needs change throughout the day.

Cutting back the amount of energy used to fire the heating system when the building is unoccupied can greatly reduce gas bills. According to the US Department of Energy, setting the temperature of a building 10 to 15 degrees lower for eight hours of the day will reduce the average heating bill by 5-15%. The last person to leave can perform this setback manually every day, and the first person to arrive would then need to reset the thermostat to its normal operating temperature.

Adding a programmable thermostat to a central gas heating system is a better solution. A programmable thermostat can automatically adjust the temperature based on the time of day. Installing a programmable thermostat can help reduce the cost of heating the building without relying on a person to remember to change the thermostat. In addition, the thermostat can start heating the building before anyone enters so that the temperature will be comfortable immediately.

In the United States, most central gas heating systems use either natural gas or propane to fuel the furnace or boiler. Natural gas is only available in areas where a utility company has installed pipe to distribute the gas. Propane is more widely available throughout the country. A propane delivery company will install a propane tank near the building and schedule regular deliveries of propane by truck.

TS Heating is experienced in installing and maintaining central gas heating systems. Contact TS Heating to discuss the best system for your building today.

Building your dream home can be very fulfilling especially when you have already planned carefully to take care of all of the households needs. On the other hand, you may not be aware of the many decisions that you would need to decide on. Alongside with this, there are lots of things that you need to consider and decisions you need to make.  One of those includes choosing your means of a central heating system.

Since there  are a lot of things to consider to think about and comparisons to weigh you may want to take the time to sit down with a professional such as those at TS Heating who can help you decide on the right central heating package for your family. Thing such as the size of your home or rooms that may be unused can be taken into consideration when considering your choices.

There are two major sources of central heating, they are the usual gas or electric.  Once you have an idea as to what it is all about, you will be eager to know if you want a furnace or a boiler since these are the two most important components to a heating system.

Do remember both are safe. Another thing, this is going to boil down to personal choice, and at times, the size of your home. Furnaces are often fueled by gas, wood and electricity and these are what new homes are mainly equipped with such as a central heating and cooling system. Additionally,  boilers can also be also fueled through gas or radiant heating, which is a fresher and uncommon form of heating using plastic plumbing to transfer the heat.

When selecting  the correct system for your perfect or existing home, you may be wondering  and asking yourself, how hard will it be to accomplished all these things?  You may have also had it suggested to you to go green, and which of the best available energy star efficiency systems may be the right one for your home. You will also want what will save you money the most and the knowledge it takes to find it.

Now, when making a contrast to water, gas or electric central heating it will always depend on how the energy will transport into heat. That is how you should determine reliability and efficiency.  Another way is to find out where to cut your losses, invest in a new system, or transfer systems. TS heating can be a helping hand to help you with their up to date information and services that are available. In any case of your selection in central heating systems, TS Heating is here to answer any questions you may have about your central heating needs.

Central heating differs from local heating in the fact that the heat generation occurs in one place, such as a furnace room in a house. This is considerably updated from how some of our ancestors created their own central heating systems. Although central heating is indeed a recently more perfected technique, there have been others before it.

A similar system of central heating was before used in ancient Egypt. And Muslim engineers in Syria produced a central heating system that allowed heat to travelled through under floor piping from the furnace room, rather than through a hypocaust. Cistercian monks revived central heating in their own manner by using a system of heated water creating pressured steam, much the ancestor of the slowly becoming extinct radiator system.

Engineers in the United Kingdom as well as in other parts of Europe are commonly known to combine the needs of room heating with hot-water heating and storage. This is a very efficient manner to containing and using every bit of heating or cooling capability a central heating system can have.

The United States natural gas central forced-air systems seem to occur most commonly; these systems and central-boiler systems both occur in the far north regions of the United States. Additionally there are also steam-heating systems, fired by coal, oil or gas that are still used in the USA, Russia and Europe. Electrical heating systems are less common and are only practical when electricity is low cost or when geothermal heat pumps are used in addition to the electrical heating systems.  Electric heaters are normally part of a fan coil which is part of a central air conditioner.

A ducted air system will use an electric furnace to heat air, blowing the heated air through ducts to warm various parts of a house while radiant heating systems will use a central boiler to heat water inside of radiators. The people at TS Heating can help you to decide which central heating options may be best for your home and family.

So although there are in the past and present many varieties on central heating, the idea remains the same. Utilizing this type of power is no doubt an incredible invention of man regardless of the time period that can claim the most advancement. Harness the power of elements themselves is a precise science these days, but it was not always. Considering the safety laws now in place to protect workers who do install central heating systems, it could be hard to imagine an ancient worker who began this very process in a primitive manner and the risk he may have had to take.