The Start of the Heating Season

Fall brings about many changes here in Minnesota. The old joke about the weather, the one that goes like this: "If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute because its bound to change.." seems to be most appropriate in October and November.  One change we often ignore, with the exception of complaining about it on Facebook or Twitter, is the need to turn our heat on in the house.

You may heard me talk about it in the past but this is the time of year us heating professionals call "The Shoulder Months". Its the time of year when we require our heating systems be running but the outside temps are still relatively warm; its not nearly as cold as what's to come.

This "shoulder" season often has us paying more to heat our homes than it should. Most boilers and furnaces are grossly over-sized for the load put upon them during these warmer months. In fact, unless you have very new equipment installed in your home you are most likely operating within these inefficient conditions and paying the price each month.

Let me be clear, this does not mean your heating appliance is necessarily the wrong one for your home, it's just likely that it is only capable of using the maximum amount of energy each time it turns on.  This is not a efficient way of supplying comfort to your indoor environment.

The newer, higher tech boilers and furnaces we install today are capable of monitoring the outdoor temperatures and indoor temperatures and using that information to adjust the amount of energy needed at any given time.  It's very much like cruise control in your vehicle. With cruise control your car will only demand of the engine what is needed to remain at the speed you desire. When the road course changes (hills, both up and down) the computer in your car will adjust the output of the engine to accommodate the change. When a boiler is told to turn on, and with this simple technology, it too realizes the change in weather and adjusts its output accordingly; it does this so that you are never paying for more energy than is needed at any given time.

This is a standard level of technology for all the boilers we install, whether new or for replacement. If you have any questions or would like to know more please contact us. We'd be happy to assess your heating system to make sure you're comfortable and operating as efficiently as possible.