If you are thinking of moving house, one of the first things you should put on your list is the need for central heating installation. This is particularly true with rising energy costs.
Things to Consider With Heating
As you inspect potential homes, the central heating installation should be foremost in your mind. If the potential new home hasn’t already benefited from central heating installation, now is your chance to work out where it should go.
1. Layout – Lets look at the layout first, as this does have an influence over your energy bills. While high ceilings are beautiful architectural aspects, they can be a huge heating issue. The problem is that heat rises, so you will need more heating to heat the entire home when you have high ceilings. Always remember that high ceilings equate to high-energy bills.
A second layout issue concerns the number of stories in the residence. With a home that has many levels, considering how you intend to heat all the floors is important, especially the lower ones. Tri-level homes often have a problem with something called the zone effect. Quite often, this means that the lower level rooms are cold and the top level rooms are warm. Unless you have a very sophisticated heating system, tri-level residences are going to drive your heating bill through the roof.
2. Control Areas – One way to reduce the central heating requirements for high ceiling and tri-level homes is a controllable central heating system. Many modern heating systems allow you to isolate particular sections of the home you wish to heat. These can be a godsend for larger homes where certain rooms are not used often. If the home you’re moving to hasn’t already had central heating installation, this is something you can consider.
3. Vents – A more mundane, but important issue, are vent locations. It has to be said that the vent layout in some homes leaves a lot to be desired. If you find vents located under windows, you can expect the heating bills to be outrageous. In addition to this, rooms without any vents can also be problematic, as they will take longer to heat up meaning you have to have the heating turned on for longer.
If it is a new home you’re thinking of buying, the central heating installation shouldn’t pose much of a problem as all the details above should have been taken into consideration by the developers. Just be wary of older homes, as their high ceilings and generally larger rooms can make your central heating and energy bills rocket.
