How Central Heating Works

Here in Colorado, most of us use central heating to warm our homes. But have you ever stopped to wonder how it works?

With a central heating system, it uses a furnace or boiler to create warm air. You’ll find the furnace or boiler in an out of the way location, usually tucked into a crawl space, the basement, or possibly even the garage.

A furnace delivers the warmed air through a system of air ducts that weave throughout your home. A boiler sends hot water or steam through pipes, with warmed air coming through radiators or convectors.

Whether you use forced-air or a gravity system, the temperature is controlled by turning on a thermostat. While you may have one central thermostat that controls the entire house, increasingly you may have zoned equipment that allows you to heat and cool the home based on zones.

With a forced-air system, the furnace heats the air, and then uses a blower to force the heated air through the ductwork and out into each space. Gravity systems use convection currents to carry heated air throughout the system, delivering it through large air ducts. They don’t use a blower to control the air flow.

If you have an air conditioner attached to your system, your home uses forced-air. It delivers both hot and cold air supply to keep your home comfortable throughout the year. An air conditioner utilities the same air ducts to deliver cooled air, and operates through basic refrigeration principles.

A central heating system is vital to today’s home. We can’t live without both heating and cooling to keep our homes comfortable. It takes both to create a superior HVAC system – it takes heating, ventilation, and air conditioning to ensure your comfort is met no matter the season.

If you have questions about any piece of the system, we’re here to help. Give us a call today.