Home Heating Systems.

toggleswitch · Dec 9, 2011

How do you keep warm?

My current residence is an apartment rental in a building that was constructed in 1946.

There is a central one-pipe steam heating system that is fired with natural gas.

Within the apartments are recessed "radiator" enclosures with finned convectors.

As with most larger apartment buildings, the main controls are along the lines of a HeaTimer computerized control system. It senses outdoor temperature as well as when the heat has reached the last radiator in the building. Using algorithms it theoretically maximizes comfort with minimum fuel usage. (In plain English it is usually an oven or a freezer in the apartments).

The part most building owners forget is to have two or three indoor thermostats as low and high limits. Unfortunately you'll get the tenant who has the thermostat in their apartment who is obsessed with "fresh air" and leaves windows open all winter (the other tenants roast), or the one who is trying to recreate the tropical climate of their birth and childhood, and has the gas oven or an electric heater on constantly, such that the other tenants freeze.

I don't ask much in/of life but to have my own thermostat, central air-conditioning and both gas and electric cooking, I'd be SO happy!

http://www.heat-timer.com/En/Index.aspx

nurdlinger · Dec 9, 2011

One Story 1200 sqft Block House on Slab, Built 1978

This house was built during a moratorium on new natural gas hookups, so there is no gas service in my subdivision. Newer ones have it, about 1/4 mile north.

Original heat was resistive electric heater, such as found on mobile home. Original cooling was evaporative cooler. After ten years of this, I installed a heat pump and never looked back. The cooler is still there, and it has automatic dampers so that I don't need to climb up on the roof and swap baffle plates to switch between that and the central system ductwork. However cooler is now over 20 years old. Exterior is stainless steel and does not rust, so no leaks. But all the interior parts have rusted to the point I am reluctant to use it anymore.

Heat pump does very well, unless temp is extraordinarily hot (> 110F) or cold (<25F). Heat pump is 20 years old now as well, so I expect it will need replacement before too long. (was warned about this by last guy who serviced it)

Heat pump is controlled by Honeywell Chronotherm-III thermostat. It has the ability to set temperatures for four periods of the day: wake, away, return, sleep. There are separate period settings for heating and cooling, and for weekdays and weekends. The thermostat will not switch automatically between heating and cooling.

arbilab · Dec 9, 2011

80s 800SF apartment (though built as condos), forced air resistive 5kW, wholly inadequate below 30F, must leave oven on low with door open or it never shuts off. Costs a fortune to run. The same system handles cooling OK even at 110F and half the cost of heat. Double pane windows, brick construction, but cathedral ceilings contour the roof so not much room for insulation.

Perhaps worst part is thermostat, a rectangular Honeywell. MUST change the setting as outside temp changes, it's 5* off from where it's set, temp varies up to 7* at the same setting, worst POJ thermo I've ever seen.

lordkenmore · Dec 9, 2011

Electric forced air here. Furnace is probably about 50 years old--original furnace here, but not entirely original internally. One of the few advantages of electric furnaces is that they are easily repairable, and probably can be kept going forever. But they aren't cheap to run, and this particular furnace has the irritation of running loudly. The blower is far from whisper quiet, and there is some relay that comes on with a loud click as the furnace is starting up. This wouldn't be a big problem...except the furnace is located right off the bedroom. I set the thermostat back at bedtime--partly to save electricity, partly so I'm not disturbed by the furnace. It does do an adequate job of heating, though. Unlike Arbilab above, I don't have to supplement it. Last winter, there was a 24+ hour power failure. When the power came back, the place was probably in the 30s--at best. I can't remember how long it took, but the furnace got the place heated back up amazingly fast. However, I have lived with some electric furnaces that were inadequate during serious cold snaps. The house I grew up in had electric heat, and I remember one time when we had a spell of unusual cold. The furnace ran constantly part of one day, and didn't shut off until the thermostat night setback occurred.

My current thermostat is a White Rogers mechanical.

I currently do supplement with a small oil filled radiator. This is less about the furnace's ability, and more about being thrifty.

rp2813 · Dec 9, 2011

Gas fired forced air late-ish 80's Day & Night furnace. Super high efficiency. It serves approximately 1,300 square feet; main floor and upstairs bedrooms. Added-on family room, laundry room and 3/4 bath get heat from a bare bones gas fired wall-mount unit. In the bathroom I have a treasured late 80's slim and wall-mountable "Heat Stream" electric heater with thermostatic control. I have a small upward-aiming air circulator fan on the floor in a corner of the family room, which has high ceilings. It's plugged into a thrift store GE timer that allows for alternating 15-minute on & off cycles during the same waking hours the furnace operates, and is set on the lowest speed. Both systems are on identically programmed Lux TX500E thermostats, which has worked out really well.

maytagbear · Dec 9, 2011

Building built around 1910

converted from retail space to residential in 1960. 975/1000 sq feet.

Gas forced air, "Armstrong" brand furnace. Poorly maintained, but NOT leaking Carbon Monoxide as per my Kidde brand CO monitor. Thermostat is a classic Honeywell Roundie. If I lower the thermostat below 75F, even while furnace is off, pilot light goes OUT, and landlord has to be called. Therefore, it is 78F in here. Not always pleasant. I have no way of telling how often the filter is changed, if it is changed.

My first apartment had well maintained hot water heating. Second and third had well maintained gas forced air.

It is MY name on the Dominion East Ohio Gas bill.

Insulation and double paned windows added in 2003.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

cornutt · Dec 9, 2011

Heat pumps, three of 'em. One 2-1/2 ton unit and two 1-1/2 ton units, each with second stage resistance heat (which I've disconnected in the unit that serves the basement). All are under the control of my home automation system, which manages the thermostat setpoints based on time of day, day of week, outside temperature, and occupancy mode flags that I define in the system. The system also controls the bathroom heater in the master bath.

We have two gas fireplaces for atmosphere and a bit of supplemental heat. They are fed by a 100-gallon LP bottle. (No natural gas in the neighborhood.)

petek · Dec 9, 2011

1958 4-level split with baseboard hot water heating (gas) and the original boiler. I like it much better than a fag furnace except for not being able to have true central air. Central air only became more common here in the mid 70's. Before that it was the usual window air conditioners.
I've summized over time visiting other neighbors that if their house was built by the same builder as ours they have hot water heating, the others have forced air and there's one little area, maybe 6 houses, of later built early-mid 60's houses that were all electric but at least one I've spoken to had a gas furnace installed a few years ago. I never asked if it was a forced air electric or radiant heat.

henry200 · Dec 9, 2011

This house is a 900+ sq. ft. ranch style with a full basement built in 1954; dangerously like the one in which I grew up. Heating is provided by a Lennox Elite two-stage gas forced air furnace with a DC variable speed blower. With the blower set to run continuously (a gentle background whisper of sound) the temperature does not waver more than 1/2 a degree, although the basement, being uninsulated is usually a few degrees cooler than upstairs. I have the Honeywell thermostat programmed to bring the temperature up to a toasty 67 degrees F. when I rise around 5:30 AM, then cut back to 60 at 8:00 (9:00 on Saturdays) and down to 55 after 9 PM.

There is a 240 sq. ft. "summer room" addition off the kitchen where I spend most of my at-home leisure time. With the heat cut back in the rest of the house I can close a couple doors and keep this room plus the kitchen comfortable with an Intertherm electric hot water baseboard heater, but my favorite and most bone-warming, soul-satisfying heat source is the woodburning stove. I have a fire almost every evening and I'll sometimes keep it going all day long if I'm home.

richardc1983 · Dec 9, 2011

Here in my house in the UK - I rent a flat that is in a converted house.

We have central heating radiators that is supplied by 1 shared boiler that the whole house use for hot water.

I have no control over the timings of the heating it comes on 0600-0800 and then 1700-2200 and all day at weekends.

Outside of these times I would have to use electric heaters. Being an old house it can get very cold so a couple of years a go I installed a multi split LG Air conditioning heat pump system. There are 3 indoor units connected to 1 outdoor unit. All indoor units must be either in cool or heat they can have different temperatures in the rooms but not different operating modes.

This heats the house very well and actually better than the central heating system as in the depths of winter the central heating radiators struggle (even with a flow temp of 80C) to heat the house to a comfortable level without the heat pump system.

PLus in the summer I have air conditioning which is a bonus as I work nights and being ground floor I am not able to leave windows open when I sleep during the day so I need air con as my bedroom has south facing windows and can get very hot even on a spring day when outside temps are low.

Here is a link to the system. My friends say I am obsessed with air con!

http://www.lg.com/uk/air-conditioning/multi-split-systems/LG-FM25AH.UE3.jsp

http://www.lg.com/uk/air-conditioning/multi-split-systems/LG-FM25AH.UE3.jsp

whirlcool · Dec 9, 2011

We have a 1800 aq ft house with a brand new American Standard heating and cooling unit. So no problems here.

I remember living in Chicago in a 1930's brick apt building. There were 6 apartments with the landlord's apartment on the first floor. That was also where the thermostat for the steam heating system was. I was on the third floor up front.
It was either 60F or 100F in the apartment. The radiators were very noisy. After awhile you could interpret what each sound meant. If it was hot and the radiators started banging, you were soon to freeze, so close all the windows. If it was cold and the radiator starting hissing, then that meant heat was on the way. Usually in the winter in the evening the place would become very cold. It would start to warm up again around 8am. But it was nothing a space heater couldn't help get by with.
But it was a very nice apartment. It was very large and had newly finished hardwood floors when I moved in. And it had nice front and side views of the neighborhood. In the summer you had control of your own window a/c unit. But the worst thing about the heat was how dry the place would become. I am easily susceptible to winter itch, so I was in misery most of the winters in there.

jerrod6 · Dec 9, 2011

3 story house, overhead attic,5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, kitchen.....all the rest... biggest heating and cooling challenges are dealing with 13ft ceilings and using one system to heat/cool 3 floors since warm air rises and cold air falls. Have a Trane multi-stage gas forced air heater with vs blower, matched with a Trane AC. Honneywell VisionPro programmable thermostat, Honneywell whole house air cleaner.

I grew up first with steam heat that was supplied by the steam heating plant. This was different because we didn’t have a boiler in the house, just a large pipe that would bring the steam in underground from the plant. Next house growing up we had oil fired baseboard hot water which I always preferred, for heat consistency. 

My current system is able to maintain the room temperature within 1/2 degree of set point and I never hear or feel the system running unless I try to,so I am happy with it. In first stage the air delivered is only about 85f to 90F which I think helps reduce hot blasts of air, then the quick cool down sometimes noticed in forced air systems. The heat is hotter perhaps 112F and the blower speed is faster in second stage but this stage is only used when needed. One thing I think helps with consistency is that I have an air return in every room except the kitchen and bathrooms and larger rooms have a return near the floor and near the ceiling. Also have air returns in the center hall hallways, so I think this helps keep the air circulating throughout the house.

Overall happy with the system but If I were building a new house I would install radiant floor heating combined with central air.

See attached link. The 11th paragraph mentions the steam heating plant but unfortunately does not go into great detail about how it worked. 

[this post was last edited: 12/9/2011-22:43]

Overbrook Farms, Philadelphia PA 19151

Overbrook Farms Historic District, Philadelphia PA 19131

www.livingplaces.com

jerrod6 · Dec 9, 2011

wood burning stove

Henry I love that wood burning stove!

cfz2882 · Dec 9, 2011

1950s gas floor furnace+1976 gas wall heater/fake fireplace,the wall heater has a
small blower.Heat from the wall heater concentrates in one corner of the room,so
i have found the hottest spot on the ceiling and put an inlet grille there to lead
to an air handler/blower to blow air through insulated ducts to strategicly placed
air nozzles(3)that distribute the heat much better(and the cold in the summer)
Right now an improved air handler is being built(has to fit through the hatch up
to the attic LOL)The improved air handler is being built around an EBM papst
"motorized impeller"of around 11"diameter using a 24v brushless speed controlled
motor.

arbilab · Dec 9, 2011

Honeywell Round is the best mech thermo ever. Honeywell Rectangle is utter rubbish, WORST ever.

Renting a dozen places I've never had to supplement the central heat until now. Code here is set to very idealistic Chamber of Commerce average temperatures, not the extremes we actually experience. Newer units in the same complex are 7.5kW.

I also supplement with a heat cube in the bath/bed, brilliant near-antique fanforced space heater from 1988 that's only 4x4x5", 1550W max, I run it at 1250W. It cost under $35 and the thermo is more sensitive than the central. Vac the dust out and put a drop of oil every couple years and like new 23yr later.

lordkenmore · Dec 9, 2011

"Honeywell Round is the best mech thermo ever. Honeywell Rectangle is utter rubbish, WORST ever."

I've lived in 2 places with some sort of Honeywell rectangular thermostat, and never really had any problem. But we had one in the house I grew up in, and that thing never apparently worked right. I don't know what was specifically wrong--I was young when it went out. But I do recall that it was not used normally--it was used as a switch to turn the heat on and off. We'd get cold, move the lever to 70 or 80, get warm, and move the lever to minimum. So much for automation. It's a good thing we never had to leave town in winter.

That thing got replaced eventually with a digital thermostat. That was my first--and I hope last ever--experience with digital thermostats. Programming the thing required at least one, if not two, advanced degrees in computer science. And it was truly a thrilling day when one of the batteries died, which completely killed the heating. Thank goodness there was a replacement battery handy. I can just about imagine the "fun" of the battery dying when snowed in, and not having a replacement battery handy. (One can, of course, replace the battery regularly, or make sure there is always a replacement. But I personally find the simplicity of a mechanical thermostat much more appealing.)

lordkenmore · Dec 9, 2011

"Henry I love that wood burning stove!"

I do, too. The place I lived a couple of years ago had a wood stove, and I really liked it. It gave a sense of security--power failures are a problem in my area. And it was nice supplement heat on really cold nights. When I move again, I don't know if I can get any sort of wood heat (even a fireplace), but it certainly is on my "hope" list.

I can even imagine myself heating exclusively with wood. I'm not sure I see myself in the woods chopping trees down, though. (Although I figure buying wood is viable--if one doesn't have free wood, one has to pay for energy. It might as well be to someone local, rather than some huge energy company.)

My one gripe with the stove I used was that there was no window in the door to allow one to see the flames. The people who installed it were by all accounts frugal, and probably went with the cheapest possible stove. The only thing they insisted on was a flat top that could allow them to do minimal cooking during power failures.

petek · Dec 9, 2011

Ours still has it's original old Honeywell roundie. I was going to put a replacement setback t-stat on but really there isn't any point since we're home all day now.

I tried a Honeywell digital roundie at moms but she couldn't figure it out because it only showed the current room temperature until you actually went to adjust it where it would display the setting,, then revert back to the current room temperature. So I took it off and put back a simpler mechanical one

lordkenmore · Dec 10, 2011

I'm personally not wild about any sort of setback thermostat. They all--to some degree--assume a fixed, never changing schedule. That may be fine in an office, but in a home things can vary. Mechanical models are, at least, easy to override--just move the "setback" lever up. But computer models could be a real pain, unless they've become easier to program. I can just about imagine the "fun" of being home, sick, during the work week, and trying to figure out how program the thermostat to warm the place enough so that one doesn't freeze to death. I wonder if some people in this position decide to go to the office, anyway. ("I'm sick. I can't do any work. I'll get others sick, I know. But at least it's warm there!")

I find that a single setting, mechanical thermostat works just fine for me. Remembering to adjust it up and down is only slightly more complicated than remembering to turn on and off the lights.

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