Page 38 - The Homeowner's Handbook 2017

THE HOMEOWNER’S HANDBOOK EIGHTH EDITION

Heating & Cooling07

Critical to a home’s overall energy performance.

The energy savings and

increased comfort far outweigh High-Efficiency Boiler

the upfront cost of an energy-
efficient HVAC system.
Hot water
T THE HEART OF MOST HOME heating systems
is a furnace, a boiler or a heat pump. A furnace
burns fossil fuel to heat air that’s forced by a
blower fan through a series of ducts to the living Flue
spaces; a boiler heats water that’s then pumped to a gases
A hydronic, or water-based, distribution system. Most Boiler
heat pumps run on electricity. They don’t create heat, but rather
extract it from the air or the ground. Heat pumps are available for
use with forced-air and hydronic distribution systems. If you want Cold
to minimize your fuel bill, an Energy Star rating is a minimum water
standard for these appliances.

GAS FURNACE
Super Efficiency
A modulating gas furnace is the most technologically advanced Burner
fossil fuel-burning furnace you can get, with efficiencies as high
as 97 percent (that’s the percentage of the fuel’s potential energy
delivered as heat). It achieves this feat with a series of technical
innovations. Gas is not as clean as we once believed, however, now
that dirty methods of “fracking” are used in some extraction. The Virtues Caveats
pollution may simply be happening at the front end of the process. ■ ■ Quiet operation—no air blowing ■ ■ Up to 50 percent more expensive
than a conventional boiler
No fossil fuel gets an environmental free ride. It’s a finite resource, ■ ■ Relatively easy to zone ■ There are fewer high-efficiency
■ ■ Lack of fan means lower electric ■
not a renewable one. use than a forced-air system boilers to choose from than
One way that new technology squeezes more heating power from ■ ■ Distribution system takes up there are high-efficiency
gas is with an exhaust heat exchanger. This exchanger steals back much less space than ductwork furnaces
heat from the furnace’s waste byproducts. Another feature, flame
modulation, adjusts the flame size, based on demand. These furnaces motors. The ability to vary airflow and flame intensity also allows
include variable-speed blower fans with high-efficiency electric for nearly constant room temperatures and better air circulation.

Uponor Ecoflex Pre-insulated Sensi Wi-Fi Programmable Thermostat
Pipe System Sensi Wi-Fi programmable thermostat is a smart
thermostat from Emerson that helps lower energy
This versatile pipe provides proven, reliable use. It can be programmed with custom schedules
performance for underground distribution for each day of the week, and users can adjust the
of hydronic heating, cooling and potable- temperature with a smartphone, using the free Sensi
water systems. Ecoflex features flexible, mobile app. Flexible programming and the ability to control the thermostat
durable cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) or remotely ensure that heating and cooling only occur when needed. The
high-density polyethylene (HDPE) carrier thermostat offers precise temperature control (it is accurate to within one
pipe surrounded by multiple layers of PEX-foam insulation, which is then degree Fahrenheit) and is one of the only Wi-Fi thermostats to be Energy
covered by a watertight HDPE jacket. http://bit.ly/1OZy4aN Aware certified. https://sensicomfort.com

36 GREEN BUILDER The Homeowner’s Handbook 2017 www.greenbuildermedia.com

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