What You May Find Interesting About Boilers
What generally comes to mind when most people hear the word boilers is a big tank in an industrial setting that’s producing steam to power some kind of machinery with tiny jets of steam escaping from a release valve, or perhaps a leak in a pipe in need of repairs.
In reality, though, while they are still being used in commerce and industry, clean running and efficient, more compact high-tech boilers are now in increasing numbers being used in homes.
There are a few good reasons for having a boiler installed in a home, but the primary one that catches people’s interest is economic. Fuel prices are on the rise, and it’s not uncommon for a heating bill to account for up 50% and even more in a home’s overall expenses, and switching to a boiler system will trim that number down.
Control Freaks Love Residential Boilers in Pittsburgh
Control is yet another reason why home and business owners in increasing numbers are rediscovering boilers. This is one glaring difference to basic types of traditional heating systems, and we have all seen them in operation.
Electric heaters don’t need much explaining. Once turned on, electricity heats a filament, and that filament then hits the air. The heated air is then, in turn, blown through ductwork, or there can be a series of heated filaments throughout a home or business, with each one heating a separate room.
It works, but this type of system is a real power gulper for two reasons. First, electricity is expensive, and secondly, it’s inefficient. It’s the same with gas power for a heater or heat exchange system. The air is heated and then moved around a home or business through a series of ducts.
Air is inefficient to heat, keep insulated, and move around.
Perhaps you can recall lighting and stoking a fire in a fireplace and then waiting in the home for hours, waiting for that fire the heat the living quarters.
Heated steam, on the other hand, can be shot through a system of pipes that can be directed around the various rooms in the home to heat radiators that turn warm a home more quickly. More efficiently, too.
Then valves on radiators around a home or business can shut the heated steam on or off, allowing you to be more select we’re in a home or building you want to heat or not spend the money to eat.
Pipes can also be installed under a tile floor, so it too can be heated with steam.
So Just What is a Boiler and How Does it Work?
If you’re now wondering what is a boiler and how does it work, all you have to do so take a look at your water heater. It heats water for your home or business, even if it does so inefficiently.
One of the reasons for that is your standard water heater is limited with regards to how high the temperature can go when it heats the water. The higher the temperature that something is heated, the more efficiently it can be insulated because of the greater amount of energy stored in a given space.
So think of a boiler as a more compact high-tech water heater capable of doing a lot more than simply sending hot water to your sink and shower. Today’s boiler systems can send superheated water around a home or building or to more than one home and commercial building for multiple uses, including hot water to your sinks and showers.
What are the Pros and Cons of a Boiler?
So now comes the big question, and that is what are the pros and cons of a boiler? The answer here is there are a few downsides to a boiler system, and the first one is they’re more expensive than simply having a water heater and a heat exchange unit installed in your home for hot water and air conditioning.
Both of these have shorter service lives, but in terms of upfront cost, they are less expensive to have installed. The second downside of a boiler system is you can’t do the installation work yourself because they are just too complex.
Then the third downside is that the existing plumbing in your home may not be adequate to accommodate a new boiler.
Listing all the benefits, however, is not so easy because there are just so many, with the first one being energy savings.
There are even tankless boiler systems available that heat hot water on demand for more significant savings because there’s no tank of hot water to be stored.
Then switching over to a boiler gives you one more power option to choose from, and that is heating oil. This frees you up from gas and electricity, and there are even systems available now that are powered by split firewood.
Then finally, a high-quality stainless steel boiler system delivers a much longer service life than a conventional hot water heater or central air conditioning system. So while they may be more expensive upfront, in the end, particularly if you were dealing with multi-unit housing, they deliver more significant savings on the back end.
Straight Talk on Pittsburgh Boiler Installation
You just aren’t going to find the nation’s premier expert on boiler installation in Southern California. Instead, you have to go to an area known for cold winters and older, less insulated homes and commercial buildings.
This is precisely why Pittsburgh boiler installation experts are among the best found anywhere in the US. The last thing you need when you switch over to or replace an existing boiler system is to be somebody’s guinea pig.
The plumbers in Pittsburgh are well-known for Pittsburgh boiler installation, but you need to make sure that whoever you hand the job to is licensed, bonded, and fully insured, and that includes workman’s comp. You may not know it, but a client can be held financially accountable if a worker is injured on a job and the contractor they’re hired is not carrying workman’s comp insurance.
How Much Does a Boiler Installation Typically Cost in Pittsburgh
This is the question most often asked, and it’s not hard to understand why either. A brand new boiler installation in Pittsburgh isn’t cheap compared with more conventional options like a standard water heater, a mini-split air conditioner, or a heat pump.
How much a boiler installation typically costs in Pittsburgh, however, is a difficult question to answer. This is because one of the primary benefits of a boiler installation in Pittsburgh is that it offers so many options, so a one-size-fits-all answer is hard to come by.
What you really should look for is directions to a reputable company that has years of experience and integrity that can offer you balance in your quest for a system that suits your needs and fits your budget.