There are plenty of different ways to heat your home, from the time-honoured fireplace to a modern underfloor heating system through every room in your house. Here is a rundown of all of the most popular forms of home heating systems.
Underfloor heating systems
Underfloor heating systems use pipes beneath the floor so that the floor itself becomes a radiator, heating the room from the floor up through the rest of the space.[1]
There are 2 main kinds of underfloor heating – warm water (often called wet heating), and electric underfloor heating. Wet systems use underfloor heating pipes that are powered by a boiler and embedded in the screed beneath the floor. While they are complex to install, the savings are considerable over time, and the result is a toasty warm room on even the coldest days.
Radiant Heating Systems
Radiant heating systems use ‘radiant heat transfer’ to supply infrared radiation heat to panels that are embedded in the floor, walls, or ceiling of a home. To understand how this system works, think of the way that you can feel a warm hob or fireplace from across the room, even when you are not standing in its immediate vicinity.[2]
Radiant heating systems are far more efficient and cost effective that forced air heating and baseboard heating, as it has no loss of heat from any ducts. It is also preferable for people who have allergies to dust, as it doesn’t distribute allergens around the space.
Hydronic (liquid) radiant heating systems require only a small amount of electricity, which can save money in parts of the UK with high heating costs. They use gas or oil fired boilers (or in rare cases, wood burning boilers or solar heat) to heat the liquids, which many be preferable for certain styles of construction and specific homeowner needs.
Electric based heating systems
Electricity based heating systems use electricity (rather than gas, oil, or solar power) to heat a home or office space.[3] This is an extremely popular method of heating, and comes in a large variety of sizes, shapes, and designs in order to suit different buildings. Electric heating systems use a wide array of different methods, including radiators, storage heaters, heat pumps, infrared heating panels and boilers.
Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
Combined heat and power (CHP) captures energy that would otherwise be released into the environment (such a steam heat or excess hot water) in order to generate heat to heat a commercial space or office. This is an extremely energy efficient technology that offers excellent results.[4]
Most CHP systems are used in facilities or office buildings, in places that have a need and use for both thermal and electric energy. Since CHP captures and makes use of the energy that is generated by traditional methods and is then lost into the atmosphere, it is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly choice. It is typically 80% efficient, compared with 50% efficiency for conventional on-site boilers.
Direct Heat Systems
Direct heat is one of the most common and conventional heating systems in houses and blocks of flats. The heat is generated at a central heat source and distributed throughout the space. Since more and more people are concerned about energy efficiency, it makes sense to heat more than one home or block of flats with a centralised heating system, rather than on an individual basis.[5]
Gas Fired Space Heaters
Gas fired space heaters are portable heaters that are used to heat one room with a tank of burning natural gas, propane or butane.[6] While they are popular in Asia and Australia, they can be very dangerous when used indoors. They can cause carbon monoxide poisoning if used without proper ventilation. Flued (or vented) gas fired space heaters (with direct ventilation to the outdoors) are always preferable to unflued (or unvented) options.[7]
Electric Space Heaters
Electric space heaters are used to heat small rooms, or add extra warmth to a room that is not heated enough by the central heating system.[8] They are mains powered with a plug in the wall. While some people think if these as the cheapest way to heat a room, the cost of the electricity can add up over time, and become quite costly.
Wood Burning and Pellet Stoves
There are two main types of stoves: firewood burning and wood pellet burning.[9] Both heat a space with a fireplace, and can also be used for rustic cooking. The main difference between the two is based on whether you use traditional firewood or opt to feed the flames with specialised processed wood pellets. The wood pellets tend to be cleaner burning, and produce less smoke, making them a convenient option for heating one’s home.
Fireplaces
Most of us are familiar with fireplaces, and love snuggling up in front of one on a cold winter’s day, cup of cheer in hand. A fireplace (sometimes called a hearth) is a place to build an indoor fire, made of brick or stone and connected to a chimney that vents out the smoke to the outdoors.[10] Modern fireplace designs can be extremely energy efficient, and are prized for their ambiance and style, really changing the look and feel of a living space. While you will have to build and feed the fire (as well as regularly maintain the cleanliness of the chimney), this is a relaxing and efficient way to heat a room.
Central Heating
Just as its name suggests, central heating systems are powered by a furnace centralised in one room and provide warmth or cooling to the entire building via an HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system. 95% of the houses in the UK are heated by some kind of central heating system.[11] The three most common types are wet systems that use a boiler/heat exchanger and radiators, warm air central heating systems, and storage heater central heating systems.
Furnaces
Many households in the UK are heated by a central heating system powered by a furnace. Furnaces work by blowing warmed air through radiators or air vents. Furnaces can be powered by fuel oil, electricity, or natural gas.[12]
Boilers
The boiler is a vital component of any central heating system, acting like a fire with a supply of gas feeding it from the gas mains on the street or in the block of flats. When you want to switch on your heat, you use an electric switch to turn on the boiler. This opens a valve that allows gas to enter a sealed combustion chamber, and ignites the flame to set it alight. This enables the gas jets that feed into a heat exchanger that is connected to a cold water pipe.
As this water flows through the heated radiator, it releases heat that warms your space. When the water reaches the boiler again at the end of its circuit it has cooled down quite a lot, and so the boiler fires again and starts the process anew.[13]
Heat Pumps
You most likely already have a heat pump working in your space now, pumping out the heat that you use to stay comfortable and warm.[14] In fact, many air conditioning units also use heat pumps, as do some tumble dryers. The heat pumps used for central heating extract energy from either the ground or from the outside air, and can create a relatively small amount of heat from the huge amount of energy that it collects from the cool temperatures outdoors. This means that even if it is -30 C outside, your heat pump can create toasty warm air indoors.
Which of the above methods of home heating will work best for your home?
Reference list
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Danfoss (n.d.). Direct heating systems. [online] www.danfoss.com. Available at: https://www.danfoss.com/en/products/stations-and-domestic-hot-water/dhs/substations/direct-heating-systems/#tab-overview [Accessed 18 Apr. 2020].
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Grenier, T.H. (2020). Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Unvented Gas Space Heating Appliances (AEN-204) • Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering • Iowa State University. [online] Iastate.edu. Available at: https://www.abe.iastate.edu/extension-and-outreach/carbon-monoxide-poisoning-unvented-gas-space-heating-appliances-aen-204/.
Miflin, M. (n.d.). Wood Heat vs Pellet Stove Comparison Guide. [online] The Spruce. Available at: https://www.thespruce.com/wood-stove-vs-pellet-stove-1907994 [Accessed 18 Apr. 2020].
Smarter House (2016). Types of Heating Systems | Smarter House. [online] Smarterhouse.org. Available at: https://smarterhouse.org/heating-systems/types-heating-systems.
US EPA,OAR (2015). What Is CHP? | US EPA. [online] US EPA. Available at: https://www.epa.gov/chp/what-chp.
Wikipedia Contributor (2020). Space heater. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_heater [Accessed 18 Apr. 2020].
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Wikipedia Contributors (2019b). Fireplace. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireplace [Accessed 16 Dec. 2019].
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Woodford, C. (2008). Gas central heating boilers and furnaces – How do they work? [online] Explain that Stuff. Available at: https://www.explainthatstuff.com/gasboilers.html.
