Selection of the correct climate control device plays a critical role in determining a system's efficiency, an important purchasing factor for many homeowners.
The most advanced climate control systems available today, because they enable hydronic (water-based) heating systems to provide great comfort at lower water temperatures, can reduce home's fuel consumption by up to 20 percent.
How they work:
The process of heating a home starts when the thermostat measures a room's temperature. When a conventional thermostat switches the boiler on, the boiler will fire at full-blast for as long as it takes to heat the entire room to the desired temperature.
As a consequence of firing the boiler for so long, the water gets heated to a higher temperature than what is necessary to maintain a room at comfortable levels.
This ultimately results in wasted fuel consumption and higher heating bills.
While a conventional system will heat the water to temperatures as high as 200-degrees, an efficient system will allow that to occur only when the outside temperature drops to below-zero.
Unfortunately, a conventional system only knows what the temperature is inside the house, firing the boiler just as hard, regardless of the outdoor temperature.
Considering that below-zero temperatures occur in our area only about 2 percent of the year, while temperatures above 30-degrees occur more than 80 percent of the time, it makes better sense to fire the boiler accordingly. By installing a sensor on the north side of the building, the temperature of a home's hydronic system can be regulated according to the outdoor temperature.
On the rare times when the temperature drops to 10-below, the boiler will raise water temperature to whatever (generally about 200-degrees) levels are needed to offset the increased heat-loss caused by extreme weather conditions.
On the other hand, when it is 30-degrees outside, and the rate of heat-loss is substantially lower, water temperatures can be maintained at levels as low as 135-degrees.
As a general rule, for every three degrees a building's heating supply water temperature is reduced, fuel consumption is reduced by one percent.
A byproduct of these controls is increased comfort.
Because these systems do not follow the on/off principle, there is always just enough heat flowing through the distribution system, eliminating temperature swings.
Make climate control systems work for you:
While the technology of advanced climate control systems have been in use for many years, the larger part of the contracting community has been slow in adopting their use.
Because their wiring is more complex than standard thermostats, and require careful integration in a heating system, most contractors feel that they aren't worth the extra time and effort to install.
As a result, few homeowners are offered the chance to upgrade the quality and efficiency of their home comfort system.
Some boiler manufacturers integrate these controls with their boilers.
Find a progressive heating contractor and you’ll enjoy the energy saving benefits.
