How To Buy The Right Boiler For Your Home

Are you in the market for a new heating system? Trying to determine how to buy the right boiler to keep your home comfortable throughout the year?  

A boiler is at the heart of a radiated heating system. It’s what produces and sends hot water or steam through to the radiators in every room in your home. If your home operates with a boiler, making sure you get the right one will provide years of comfort with little effort. What do you look for? 

Water or steam? 

Most homeowners know what type of heating system is used to heat their homes. Dig a little deeper, and they might not understand the individual nuances of the system. 

For a boiler, they operate either with hot water or steam. How do you know?

Check your radiators. This system will have radiators along the baseboard, cast iron, or panel systems. Boilers powered by steam will have an air vent to allow air to escape as the system is fired up. 

You can also check the number of pipes attached to the radiator. Single connections almost always infer it’s a steam system, while two-pipe systems can be steam or hot water. If you have radiant floor heat, in most cases, you use hot water to heat your home. 

Boiler capacity

When you start comparing equipment, you’ll notice boiler capacity is measured in British Thermal Units (BTUs). This is the amount of energy required to increase the temperature of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit. Your home has its own BTU requirement; a knowledgeable HVAC technician can help you figure out what’s suitable for your home. 

An easy rule of thumb is here in our cold climate, you’ll need about 50 BTUs per square foot of space. So for a 2,000 square foot home, you’ll need a boiler that can produce around 100,000 BTUs. Of course, other factors feed into that calculation. Relying on an experienced technician will help ensure the boiler you install offers efficiencies for every season.  

Boilers will also have an Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE) rating. This rating shows how effective the equipment is at converting fuel into heat. A boiler with an 85 percent AFUE will be considered high efficiency, many of which are Energy Star certified. 

Which boiler is right for you?

Whether you’re in the market to replace an existing system, or you’re adding new heating equipment to a new build, understanding the nuances of a new boiler will help you select based upon your needs. 

With so many options in the marketplace today, relying on an experienced HVAC technician will ensure you select the right equipment to suit your needs. 

How can we help you install a highly efficient boiler system into your home?