Four Plumbing Solutions To Improve The Efficiency Of Your Boiler
The boiler is the heart of many home heating systems, providing a steady supply of hot steam or water to keep your house and family warm and comfortable. But heating a home takes significant energy, and older systems in particular can be inefficient due to both age and outdated technologies. If you are looking to modernize your boiler system, one of the first places to look is the plumbing that radiates from it. These are four ways a plumber or HVAC contractor can revamp your boiler system for better energy efficiency.
Adding Insulation to Your Pipes
As hot water travels through a pipe, the metal surrounding it is heated up as well. When exposed to colder air, that heat is then absorbed by the surrounding atmosphere to be lost forever. Rather than allow these small losses to add up over time, you could instead insulate your pipes to retain more heat, ensuring that more hot water is delivered where you really need it.
Removing Scaling
Areas with hard water often suffer from scaling problems within their pipes, and boilers are no exception. This scaling is a crusty accumulation of various minerals in the water, and it can restrict water flow if permitted to build up enough. When this happens, your boiler has to work harder to push the same amount of heated water through the pipes, driving up your energy costs as a consequence. Stripping your pipes of this scaling periodically can keep your system running smoothly.
Implementing Zone Control
If your boiler is constantly servicing every corner of your home, it may be using up much more energy than it needs to actually keep your family warm. Zone control attempts to curtail this by controlling and diverting hot water flow to coincide with the usage patterns of your household. If, for example, you only use your dining room in the evening, you can install a modern thermostat and valved piping to only heat it later in the day. Talk with your contractor about the feasibility of retrofitting your system for zone controlling.
Switching to a Radiant Heating System
Boiler systems that already produce hot water may be good candidates to switch to radiant heating, which pumps hot water through your floors to heat spaces from the ground up. This is a more efficient heating method, since hot air rises and heat is more easily transferred between you and a toasty floor. There's no need to stick with antiquated plumbing for your boiler system, and investing in even a few of these upgrades can save you a significant sum in the long run.
To learn more, contact a service like C B Lucas Heating & Air Conditioning.
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