When choosing the right method of heating for a home; climate, availability, efficiency, and size are the top determining factors. The climate the home is based in will determine the amount of heating needed. The availability of various heating means will limit the choices to what is local and affordable. The efficiency has to be considered or the heating method won’t be thorough. Finally, the size of the home and the area of open space needed to heat have to be compared with the previous factors.

Before getting to anything else, the most important factor to determining the heating for a home is its insulation. No matter the climate or difference in outdoor and indoor temperatures, proper insulation will keep both as separate environments. Properly insulated homes will have insulated walls, lofts, roof rafters (with adequate ventilation for moisture control), double glazed windows, and doors with efficient weather and temperature seals. Improperly insulated homes will have drafts, higher levels of heat loss through all of the above mentioned, and maintain little difference in temperature when comparing the outside to the inside.

Climate:

The location and the yearly temperature difference is a chief factor when choosing the right method to heat a home. Temperate regions with little fluctuation in temperature extremes will have limited exposure to cold temperatures that would require any substantial heating. These homes could get away with as little as a small fireplace or a space heater, that is just enough to get a room up in temperature and leave the rest as is, especially if there is no danger of freezing to plumbing and pipe networks.

The homes above temperate regions and further into the north will have to worry about their plumbing and potential freezing worries, even if there are rare cases of cold.

Availability:

Whether or not there is a heating method that is properly applicable to an area is the next worry. Although virtually any system can be connected to a home anywhere in the world in thanks to the high degree of transportation means and capable people, not just any system will work. Wood stoves for one, may be a good source of potent heat, but are just about useless without a steady supply of wood to keep them going. It would be nonsensical for a suburban or city home to try to bring in flats of wood. Such a system would be better where the trees were plentiful. Heating oil is a similar case, and more suitable for those out of the country.

City heating systems are more likely to run on electric or natural gas systems, where the distribution grids and supplies are higher and more accessible. Being close to a fuel supply is crucial. Other systems involving solar, geothermal, or another renewable means  would be better in the rural environment as well, though can be adapted for city homes if the case of installation exists.

Efficiency:

A heating unit’s efficiency is another great determining factor. Will the system provide for long hours with little attention, or will there be a requirement of the operator to constantly feed it in order to keep up with the demands? A home trying to use a fireplace or wood stove would not be heated well if the systems could only be stocked seldom at odd times of the day. Instead, electric, gas, and heating oil systems can be left alone for weeks and regularly via thermostats that keep temperatures variable and at preset levels. Such systems that use waste heat or renewable energies may not be capable of producing steady heat for around the clock needs, and may require a back up system. It all depends on the demands of the home itself.

Size:

It’s a fact that large homes require larger systems and more fuel to heat, and small homes require much less. While a small home built at ground level with only one story exposed to the elements could get away with convection heating around its floors based on oil, electric, coal, or other means of boiler heat, it could also use a simple fireplace or wood stove within a centralized area that keeps the essentials from freezing, while radiating enough heat to reach its walls and fill the living areas. Such small scale systems on a medium to large sized home might not work on any floor but the one it is located on.

Medium to large sized homes may require more floor level heating on the lower floors and less as it goes up due to the principle of rising heat, but will still require heating for the upper levels. While a single gas heating system could accomplish this by itself, gas, electric, and other forms of heating may be used together to lessen the economic impact should one fuel source become more expensive than the other. Also, compensation with a space heater can go long ways to regulating various household temperatures by adding only what is needed to a certain area, rather than heating the entire structure more than what is required.

Remember that the interior of a house will have a lot of impact as well. Carpeted floors will retain heat better than wood and stone, curtains on windows will keep heat from escaping faster, and even the outside trees and shrubs will block various winds that would otherwise steal heat away. Choosing the right method for heating a home relies on many factors, not just the size of it and the space to heat.

by Morgan Carlson