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Central System or Electric Baseboard Heater? Which Is the Best Choice?

Is a central system a better choice than baseboard heaters? If your home needs heat, you might not be sure which option is the best one. Before you make a new HVAC investment, take a look at what you need to know about central systems, baseboard heaters, and your home.

What Is a Central Heating System?

As the name implies, this type of HVAC appliance has a central unit that heats the home. Even though all central home heaters have a main unit, these appliances don’t all work in the same way. Central systems:

  • May use forced air heat. A forced air central heating systems tarts the warming process with a furnace. The furnace uses a fuel source (such as natural gas) to power the system. It pulls cool air in, heats it, and forces the air into a series of ducts with a blower. The warm air travels through the ducts and into your home through vents.
  • May use hot water. Like a forced air system, this also has a central unit (the boiler). The boiler heats water to a high temperature. Instead of air ducts, the water travels through a series of pipes. The pipes lead to radiators in rooms or coils under the floor.
  • May use steam. This type of central system works in the same way as a hot water heater. But instead of just heating the water, the boiler turns it into steam.

Boiler-style central systems may also use baseboard radiators. Even though these are at the baseboard level, they differ from stand-alone (non-central) heaters. Instead of electricity, the boiler system’s baseboard radiator uses heated water or steam that comes from a central unit.

What are Baseboard Heaters?

Take the next step and learn more about traditional electric baseboard heaters. An electric baseboard heater:

  • Uses electricity. This may seem obvious. But you need to know what fuel source your heater uses before you invest in a new system. Unlike forced air furnaces and boilers, you won’t need a natural gas hookup to install this option.
  • Heats through convection. The heater pulls cool air in and uses a convection process (the circulation of warm and cool air) to heat each room.
  • Doesn’t have a central unit. Unlike central heating systems, electric baseboard heaters are stand-alone appliances that heat each individual room or interior space. This means you can heat one room, a few rooms, or every room in your home.

Some homeowners combine electric baseboard heaters with a full central heating system. This allows you to add extra heat to one specific space or heat a room the central system’s ducts or pipe network doesn’t reach.

Which Heater Is the Best Choice?

The better question is – which heater is the best choice for your home? Each home is different and has different heating needs. If you’re not sure which option to install, consider:

  • The existing setup. Do you already have air ducts or radiators? You may want to use the existing heating system setup to support a new central furnace or boiler. But if your home doesn’t have ducts or radiators, you may save money with a baseboard heating option.
  • The amount of your home you need to heat. If you don’t need to heat each space, baseboard heaters allow you to create a zoned method of warming the interior space.
  • The noise level. The blowing sound from a forced air heater is usually noticeable. Likewise, some baseboard heaters are also noisy. To reduce the noise level, consider a radiator option.
  • The cost of use. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, space heating accounts for nearly 45 percent of energy use-related bills in homes. This means a baseboard heater may cost you more to use over time than a central system.

You don’t have to make the central system versus baseboard heater choice alone. A qualified HVAC professional can provide you with options and help you to select the just right model.

Do you need a new home heater? Contact D&R Service, Inc., for more information.

Call today to schedule service.

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