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Has your old heater broken down? Or are you looking for a better way to escape the cold? If you choose the right heating system for your house or apartment, it’s easy to keep warm without breaking the bank. Here are five of the most important things to think about.
The style of your house
The best type of heating system for your home depends on the style that the house was built in. Gas ducted heating systems need to have enough space to install the unit in a ceiling void, beneath the floor or outside. For gas space heaters, you need to be able to install an external flue to remove exhaust gases.
These are both good choices, but they might not work for the style of your home – particularly if you live in an apartment or unit complex. Split system heating and cooling units are another option that can be used in a variety of different homes.
There are also a few factors you need to think about when you’re deciding what size of heating system you need.
Floor area
The floor area of the space you’re heating is important when you’re deciding what size of heating system to install: the larger the floor area, the larger the heating system needs to be.
Ceiling height
If you have high ceilings, you will need to heat a larger volume of space relative to the floor area. This means that homes with higher ceilings need larger heating units than houses with lower ceilings.
It’s important to remember this if you live in a period home with very high ceilings. Because heat rises, the top of a room gets warmer than the rest of the space – so if you have high ceilings, you could easily be left shivering below.
Windows
A huge amount of heat escapes through windows. In fact, up to 40 per cent of a home’s heat loss can happen through the windows. This means that the number, size and type of windows in your home will affect the size of the heating system you’re going to need.
Retrofitting double-glazed windows may mean you can choose a smaller, cheaper heating system, as well as reduce your ongoing heating costs.
