How Does Central Heating Work?

So, how does central heating work? Well, there are a few things that will determine what kind of heating system your house will require. First, the size of your home is crucial for determining how big of a heating system or heat pump you need. A centralized heating system can only handle so much, and the square footage of the space that needs heating dictates the power and size of the unit. In general, the size and space normally indicates how large of a heating or cooling replacement or system you need.Second, the climate you live, and the resulting heating needs will play a role in determining what kind of new construction heating or central heating pump you require. If you live in a damp and cold climate, like one that gets a lot of snow, the type of heat you use may differ than if you lived in a similarly cold, but dry climate. Finally, your comfort level plays a major part in the selection of your new centralized heating system. But how does central heating work?For most centralized heating systems, the centralized heat is directly related to the AC unit. While the heat does not use the exact same components, the method by which it affects and distributes air is almost identical. The only difference between hot and cold air is how the air is sourced and how the air is treated.For example, air conditioning uses the warm air from inside your home and cools it by blowing it across a cooling condenser coil. Similarly, a heating system draws cold air from inside your home and blows it through a furnace, a kind of gas burning stove that heats the air and then returns it to the rest of the house.

Central heating may seem complex, but it is simply a system with many moving parts. When you break it up into digestible pieces, the process of how your house goes from icebox to toasty warm is relatively simple. First, let’s identify the three different major groups of our central heating system and break down their primary functions.The types of heating systems for homes, can be broken up into different heating elements. The source of warm air, the distribution of warm air, and the control panel. Each of these significant groups has several significant components that fuel the seamless functionality of your centralized heating system.For most centralized heating systems, the source of the warm air is a gas-powered furnace. The natural gas that powers your gas furnace comes from a supply line that connects your home to the main gas of the city. The gas that powers the furnace is controlled by the thermostat in your home. When the thermostat senses that the house is too cold, it triggers the circuit board, which sends gas into the furnace where it interacts with the pilot light. The pilot light ignites the gas in the furnace, creating a small, controlled fire as you would find on your stove.Once the furnace is ignited, the blower motor kicks on. This fan sucks cold air through the return vents of your house and then pushes that same cold air through the furnace where it is heated. Once the air has been heated by the furnace, the blower motor pushes the hot air back into the home through the air ducts. Warm air comes out of the supply vents in each room, distributing heat evenly across the house. Once the house is heated, the thermostat sends a signal to the control panel to shut down the furnace and blower motor. The gas is capped to prevent any excess gas from being pumped into the home, thus reducing cost, and the process repeats as necessary.The brains of this whole operation are the thermostat and the circuit baseboard. As stated earlier, the thermostat is the control you use in order to set the desired temperature of the home. The thermostat is often positioned in a neutral location in the home where airflow is even and constant. This allows the thermostat to get a true reading for the rest of the home instead of a false reading if it were located in a large room next to a supply vent.The thermostat works closely with the circuit board, which is the computer system responsible for turning on and off the major components of your centralized heating system. The circuit board is essential to the proper function and switch of the heating and cooling system. It controls the AC as well as the heat.Hopefully, this article has helped you to learn that your home’s central heating system is not so complex after all. The series of events that help determine the type of heating for your home is simply a matter of circulating the air in your house. From the furnace to the ducts within your walls, your centralized heat is conditional on everything working together. It is important that you always keep a keen eye for anything wrong with your heating system and especially be aware of any gas you may smell. For all your heating needs, be sure to consult with a team that knows how to handle a dependable home HVAC system![bdp_post_carousel show_author="false" show_comments="false" media_size="medium"]