Which Heating Solution is Best?
Tasso Lake Heating Solutions offers heating options using gas, propane and electrical energy. With the rising costs of oil and electricity, gas and propane solutions offer our customers readily available, reasonably priced energy to heat their homes, cottages, or businesses in a fully automated and trouble free manner.
For customers who require Electric solutions, Heatpumps have evolved significantly over the years. Air Source Heatpumps have become so efficient that it is difficult to justify the costs of technologies such as Geothermal. A Geothermal system will typically cost 3 to 4 times as much as a Heatpump to install and will cost marginally less to operate. The premium costs of installation of a Geothermal system will never be recouped when compared to the cost of installing and operating an Air Source Heatpump.
The reality of any Heatpump or Geothermal solution is that in extreme cold weather, they will not be able to deliver enough heat. An auxiliary heat source is required that typically is a standard electric resistance heater. Such heaters draw a significant amount of power. Another consideration with any electric heating system is backup power. If a standby generator is to be used, that generator will have to be significantly larger to be able to power an electric heating and cooling system.
Hydronic Heating Explained and Compared
Hydronic heating is also known as hot water heating. Often the water is mixed with non-toxic Propylene Glycol to prevent freezing in the event of a sustained power failure. A water or water/glycol mix is an excellent heat transfer medium because it readily absorbs, holds and gives off heat. Air on the other hand is typically used as an insulator so more energy is required to heat air and move it through ducts. Though hydronic heating is becoming more and more popular, forced air heating is still the most common type of heating today because of the relatively inexpensive cost of installation. It also allows for only one air handling system for heating, cooling, air filtration, humidification and other environmental control technologies.
The human body prefers to have more heat around the lower extremities and less heat around the torso. Infloor heat is perfect for this as the temperature by the floor is warmer than the temperature higher up. As a result, a thermostat positioned at 5 feet is typically programmed at a much lower temperature than one with forced air because the lower extremities of the occupants are more comfortable.
Hydronic heating is more expensive to install because of the labour intensive cost of running plastic piping through the building. However, because of the nature of water, it requires substantially less energy to heat it and to move it through the system. When you have a large volume of hot water in a radiator, air convection occurs naturally over the radiator as cold air from the floor heats and rises. This convection causes gentle air currents in the space to be heated and results in an even, consistent heat. Hot water and steam radiators were the first central heating technologies to be used as early as the late 1800s.
Radiators are not the only option. With hydronic heat, warm water pipes can be placed in the floor and encased in Concrete or Gypsum, they can be placed under the floors “stapled up” in the in the joist space, or can be terminated by heat emitters such as attractive hot water radiators or fan assisted blower heaters. Today, the most efficient way of heating with hydronic heat is to encase the piping in Concrete or Gypsum in your floor. Concrete and Gypsum have a great amount of Thermal Mass. Therefore, they work like a rechargeable battery. They store the heat and give it off as needed to heat the space.
Hydronic heat offers the most efficient and comfortable heating solutions available today. The water can be heated with gas, propane, or electrically fired boilers. Despite the higher upfront cost of hydronic heat, the savings in energy alone will pay for the system in a few years and will continue well into the future. Where Air Conditioning is required, secondary systems such as ductless systems must be installed. Regardless of the price and complexity, for many customers the comfort and efficiency of hydronic heating solutions outweigh the constraints of the system.
Whether you want to heat with Forced Air or Hydronic solutions such as hot water radiators or infloor heat, we can assist with gas, propane, or a combination of different energies to satisfy even the most challenging heating and cooling requirements.
