If you’re buying or building a new home here in the Delmarva region, you have a lot of things to consider as you make this major investment.
One choice you have to make is whether you want your home heated by a furnace or a boiler. Both have advantages and disadvantages, but they are in fact, quite different. Don’t know those differences? We’re here to help! Poore’s Propane installs, maintains, and repairs both furnaces and boilers.* Our service plans help keep your furnace or boiler running at its best efficiency year-round as well.
And whether you use heating oil or propane for home heating, we provide reliable, safe delivery of both.
Boilers use heated water to heat your home. The unit itself will heat water that creates steam, which is sent around your home to provide residual heat. Steam is distributed through pipes to radiators. Hot water goes to baseboard radiators, under-floor radiant floor systems, or a coil that heats air.
A boiler offers even, strong, comfortable, long-lasting heating that isn’t drying. Another advantage boilers have is their long lifespan, on average between 15 and 20 years. Because boilers are closed systems, they can be extremely energy efficient, too.
One downside for boilers is that they are more expensive to install, as the heating system is a more complex one to set in place throughout the house.
A furnace heats air and circulates it around your home to keep it warm. Air is brought into the furnace through a return and is heated. A blower then sends the heated air into the ductwork, which brings it to all the rooms in your home through vents.
Furnaces are powered by propane, heating oil, natural gas, or electricity. They’re the most popular kind of heating system on the market today.
With furnaces, you get a lower overall cost of ownership compared with boilers because furnaces are less expensive to purchase, install, repair, and maintain. Because they’re a simple, straightforward system, furnaces can be installed in less than a day. Furnaces are also great for getting your home warm fast, and to higher temperatures.
One downside of furnaces is that because the heat is only being blown into a room from the vents, it is not always distributed evenly and you can end up with cold spots in a room.
Call Poore’s Propane & Oil today! We’ll provide an objective opinion about your heating system and tell you if we think it may be time to upgrade your heating equipment. Don’t gamble with your comfort—contact Poore’s Propane today!
* Available in our Delaware HVAC service area