Ducted heating system’s are among the most common and traditional heaters used in homes located in cold climatic regions. It is fueled by either electricity or gas, though older models also used wood and coal. As the term implies, the system makes use of ductwork to draw the air, heat it, and send it back to the living areas. A thermostat controls the flow of warm and cold air. The air goes to the rooms through vents that are usually located near doors and windows.

Unlike many other types of heaters, ducted heating is the only medium that can welcome integration with a cooling system. When add on cooling is installed, the system can reverse the heating process. During summer days when temperature dramatically increases, the system’s cooling components—condenser, evaporator and lines—transform and condition regular air.

Upgrading Your Ducted Heating and Add On Cooling System

If your current heater was built before 1995, it’s time to upgrade to a new system. Even if you stick with a forced-air system, current models are much more efficient than older ones; the upgrade will pay for itself in energy savings in less than three years.

If you’ve just moved in to a new home, make sure that your ducted heating and add on cooling system is quite new, preferably manufactured during the 2000s. Note that newer models are more energy efficient. Even though you need to shell out a few hundred dollars in the beginning, the money will definitely be exchanged with a lower electric consumption in the following several years of use.

To maximize convenience in the system, it is recommended to choose a model that can accommodate zoning. Note that the vents cannot ensure even heating and cooling of rooms. Advanced models however are equipped with mechanisms guaranteeing that air is blown evenly and that all areas are not warmer or cooler than the others.

A ducted heating system is one of the essentials of a comfortable home, especially if you live in areas where temperatures reach sub-zero levels. If you’re not familiar with the term, ducts refer to the areas behind the walls where air is warmed, and these are cleverly built to form a system wherein heat can be generated effectively and warm air can be circulated around the house.

More advance ducted heating systems also incorporate add on cooling mechanisms that work in the opposite manner. Systems with add on cooling are recommended for homes that also experience very hot summers. Today’s heating and add on cooling systems are equipped with reliable thermostats to control the home temperature.

If you’re new to installing and maintaining a heating and cooling system, make sure that the system you install in your home has dedicated, electronic, and easy to maintain blowers. These blowers effectively suck the air from the ducts and deliver it more effectively to the living areas.

Ducted Heating Power Sources

Heating systems work through a variety of power sources. Some use gas, others electricity, others oil, and some even wood. Today, however, oil-fueled systems are discouraged because they can be very dangerous in the event of leakage.
Gas ducted heating employs pilot lights to work. These lights generate the necessary warmth to heat up the air. The air created is then forwarded to heat exchange units which in turn send it to the home. Electric systems, on the other hand, use heating mechanisms called strips. These strips warm the air and bring it to metal vents that distribute it to the house.

The least effective, but fashionably old-fashioned system is wood-fuelled ducted heating. This system contains a firebox into which the wood is placed and burned. The heat produced from the process is sent to a heat exchanger, which will send it to the home.

Ducted Heating and Cooling Advantages

A ducted system is recommended for homes located in areas where temperatures reach the extremes of warmness and coldness. What is great about ductwork is that it is the only one that can integrate cooling and heating devices. For instance, ducted heating can accommodate central air conditioning, humidifiers, and air cleaners—tools that other systems simply cannot welcome.

Electric ducted heating and cooling systems are primarily safe. Unlike gas ducted cooling and heating which can send carbon monoxide and other dangerous substances to the living areas, electric systems are controlled. They have programmable thermostats that can combine manipulation of the factors working within the system. They can change the performance of blowers, vents, heating elements, cooling strips, and other features whose functions benefit the user.

Systems run by electricity are highly energy efficient. In fact, it is the only home ventilation system with an energy consumption that can be measured through an evaluation process called the AFUE or Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency. In fact, many countries are now giving incentive programs to homes that use electric heating systems, hoping to reduce atmosphere-destructive emissions.

Ducted Heating and Cooling Disadvantages

Heating and cooling systems that go through ductwork also has their cons. For one, a system that is incorrectly installed may lead to leaking and cause problems like air contamination. Contaminated air contains particles that may participate in developing diseases. Aside from this, ducted heating and cooling systems also require periodical replacement of filters, which can be tedious and pricey. In spite of today’s technologies, majority of heating device manufacturers cannot resolve the noisy performance of their products. Noise can be tolerable during the day, but when one is sleeping and the whirring becomes worse, sometimes the comfort that the warmth or coolness the system brings is offset by the inconvenience of having to cover the ears.


Ducted Heating Buying Tips

One, make sure that the thermostat is reliable. Aside from the literal sense of the word, it also means that it must be able to provide complete control over all the important aspects of the machine, from the speed of the blower, to temperature control, and to any feature that will help the user be more comfortable. It is also recommended to choose models that can shut off the blower and the heating element when the desired temperature is already achieved.

When looking for an integrated ventilation system also check that the devices work quietly. Many cheap models in the market become louder through extended use. Sometimes the noise can be so disturbing that you cannot sleep at night or properly watch television.

Electric heating systems are safer in comparison to gas ducted heating, but it’s still also a must to ensure that the brand chosen commits to industry standards of safety operation and offers a reasonable multi-year warranty. Brands that can promise at least three years are recommended.

With the increasing concern for green living, many states and cities today are offering incentive programs to home owners who choose electric heating systems instead of oil or gas fueled ones. Aside from these, many electric companies provide programs involving cheaper electricity rate to homes employing electricity generated heat. Get to know these programs and this will definitely subtract a significant amount of money from your monthly expenses.

Lastly, make it a habit to control the use of ducted heating and cooling system. Turn it off when the temperature is tolerable.

When it comes to electricity, a house’s integrated heating and cooling system are usually the ones with the most consumption. While there is no excuse not to use it during cold winter nights and extremely hot summer middays, it’s important to remember that there are still several ways to conserve energy and save a significant amount of money from the utility bill. Below are some helpful tips that will help you achieve a more efficient add-on home cooling system:

Add On Cooling Efficiency Tips

Above all else, make sure that the add on cooling device you will integrate with the home furnace is energy efficient. If you’re hunting in the market for a brand new cooling system, you will have an easier time since newer models are more energy saving than older ones, and they tend to make these their main selling points. Most of the time, these recently released energy-efficient models are more expensive, but in the long run the extra hundred dollars will be offset through the savings earned by much lower energy consumption.

Next, try to limit your use of the add on cooling system. During the non-peak hot hours of the day, instead of turning the system on, you can cool the living spaces by opening the windows and turning on the ceiling fans.
You can avoid heat build-up by carefully organizing home interiors and scheduling activities. During the morning, close the curtains facing the east and during the afternoon those in the west. Also avoid placing tall cabinets and furniture near areas of ventilation. Heat-generating activities like ironing clothes, cooking, and turning-on the lights during the hottest part of the day must be avoided.

Lastly, make sure your that your walls are well insulated to persistently keep the cold air in and the hot air out. If you can afford it, install storm doors on entrances that surround the home. If your home has a fireplace, make sure that the flue is shut.

As a response to today’s frugal and energy efficiency-minded consumers, many Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning companies are now offering services to amalgamate home heating and cooling systems. Through an add on cooling installation service, home owners can forego buying an extra temperature control system and save a substantial amount of money in the process.

Add On Cooling Upgrade

The upgrade is fairly straightforward, and uses a network of ducts, vents and blowers from the existing heating system. In choosing a cooling unit, make sure that you pick among brands that provide the same fully programmable controller. This will enable you to modify and blend a variety of quality factors, from room temperature to humidity, from blower speed to automatic shut off.

When picking an add on cooling unit to integrate with your present ducted  heating system, you must also ensure that the model offers the ability to create zones. Note that between heating and cooling, the latter is more difficult and requires more energy to perform, and hence the unit must enable users to freely direct the zones where the cold air is supposed to circulate.

One of the potential drawbacks of integrated cooling and heating system is the increased chances of delivering contaminated air. To avoid this problem, you must also take into consideration the filtering capacity of the add on cooling unit you will choose. What’s the sense of getting the comfort of conditioned air when your health will be at risk? In connection to this also make sure that the unit has a multi-year warranty so you can have a fallback when things go wrong.

Generally, all ducted heating and cooling systems contain air filters that cleanse the air, blowers that force to the air to be ejected, heat exchangers that manage the flow of unprocessed and processed air, and many various controls. The most common among these controls is the thermostat, which regulates the room temperature.

Ducted Heating and Cooling System Power

There are many ways to power up a ducted  heating and cooling system—oil, gas, electricity, even wood. The models that make use of electricity are recommended, though. Electric systems employ a very simple element called “strip” which easily warms the air. They have a very reliable thermostat that also controls the strip, the vent, the blowers, and the heat levels. For instance, when the thermostat feels like the room is already warm enough it will shut down the blower and the strip in order to maintain the temperature.
Electric systems are also more environment-friendly.

Unlike other types, ducted heating and cooling systems fueled by a socket do not produce gas, oil, and coal emissions. They are also relatively inexpensive in terms of maintenance, and because their fuel is already incorporated with the electric utility bill, there’s no need to shell out more cash.

How Ducted Heating Works

Before anything else, you must know how a ducted heating system works. If you’ve been to a cozy hotel room during a winter day before, it’s more likely that you very well know how the temperature inside the building is warmer and very relaxing. This is the work of ducted heating. All around the building, behind their walls, there are several spaces wherein heat is processed. These spaces are organized into a ductwork maze field with vents and plenums. The system snatches regular cold air, puts it in a kind of heating chamber, and then sends it back to the vents to increase the temperature of the rooms.

Because homes are mostly smaller than buildings, this just means it’s relatively easier for you to install a ductwork ventilation system. There are so many considerations to think of on how to design your ducted heating system but the general premise is it should deliver the best possible warm air with the least energy consumed.

Systems can be exhibit an up flow, down flow, and horizontal flow movements. Well these flow types simply explain in what direction they will send the air. These are engineered to accommodate different types of situations like those for the basement, the attic, and rooms with limited spaces.

It should be noted that the bigger your living spaces are, the larger the ducted heating system you will need. In fact, the system might have to be divided into a network of multiple zones that concentrate on particular areas. Needless to say your HVAC professional can best determine the size of system best for your home.

Installation of air cooling unit into an existing ducted heating system is in industrial terms called add on cooling. The upgrade process deals with the installation of a mechanism called an evaporator or coil in the furnace and a condenser outside it. Serving as links between the evaporator and the condenser are wires called refrigerant lines.

Getting Add On Cooling

The procedure of upgrading a heating system by adding a cooling mechanism is obviously more preferable than making a separate ducted cooling system altogether in as much as the former costs a lot less.  When using an add on cooling system, everything is already laid out; a few installation here and there and the work can be finished within a day. However, this convenience also has a drawback, especially when the present heating system is very small. Note that it is easier to warm than cool the temperatures of living spaces, so when the existing ducted heating system is not big enough to accommodate the add on cooling mechanism, the performance will be strongly affected.

The problem can be a big one especially if you have a two-storey home, and when the ductwork heating system is only located in the first story.  The second floor will definitely suffer from lack of conditioned air.  Hence if you are planning to do add on cooling to your heating system and you are in this kind of situation, you need to redesign the ducts in such a way that the air conditioning can effectively reach the upper level.

The most traditional and perhaps the best way of home heating is through the installation of a furnace. Furnaces get air from the home into a ducted heating system and take it to areas where it can be warmed and then sent back to the living spaces. Furnaces can work with an array of fuels; among them gas, oil, and electricity. Traditional homes even use wood and coal. Advanced furnaces are equipped with high-tech blowers to distribute the hot air.

Types of Ducted Heating Systems

Electric ducted heating furnaces are common in today’s homes. These make use of heating strips and other mechanisms to warm and circulate the air around the house. When getting one though, it is important to remember that the installation should be flawless and maintenance should be done regularly. The energy it consumes depends on the model and/or manufacturer, so researching which ones are energy efficient is necessary.

The second best choice for furnaces is one that employs gas and oil. This type of heating and add-on cooling system is designed with pilot lights that warm up heat exchange units. This unit produces warm air and then delivers it to the living areas. To vent the gases outside, the systems employs dedicated flues.

If you want to go the traditional way, you can opt for a heating system fuelled by wood or coal. This kind of system contains a sealed firebox where the fuel is consumed. The heat the fuel produces is then processed by heat exchangers, which in turn will deliver it to the house.

Advanced ducted heating systems are designed with filters that prevent the house from accumulating dust and other particles. These filters however must be cleaned every once in a while to prevent damage.