If you gravitate toward older homes, then yours probably sent chills up your spine as you sized it up for the first time and reveled in its character, charm, and distinctive architecture. But once you moved in, the onset of cold days and nights supplied chills of another kind as cool air streamed in from your home's “envelope,” or the roof, walls, windows, and doors.
With central heat, you can always turn up the thermostat a few degrees. But if don’t have central heating, you may be wondering what options you have to infuse your older home with even greater warmth – and put your distinctive “stamp” of approval on its seeping envelope with the help of a heating system service company.
Some options might seem downright old-fashioned. But remember that they might complement your older home's integrity to a T (for toasty). Other options might seem too modern and therefore at odds with your older home's ambiance.
In the end, you're bound to warm up to one of these options – and then allow the heating system service experts at Experts In Your Home to help you decide which one is best suited for your older home. Consider:
1. A fireplace
Your home might be one of many in Northern California that features the basic infrastructure of a fireplace but doesn't function, whether or not it includes gas piping. Or you might not have a fireplace at all and assume it's too late (and too expensive) to install one.
You have options, which include wood-burning, coal-burning, natural-gas and propane-gas-fired fireplaces. If you're worried about the cost of venting, an electric heat insert – with faux flames, no less – in a self-contained, Victorian-style fireplace might stoke your imagination.
2. Hot water and steam radiators
Restorationists love the look of antique radiators. But for owners of older homes, they also can supply abundant heat at a surprisingly affordable cost. If you like the idea but are hesitant about the look, some radiators can be hidden under wood or metal covers or can be mounted to a wall in panels.
3. Radiant (floor) heating
Frank Lloyd Wright put under-floor radiant systems “on the map” with his Usonian homes. Today, the tubing is much simpler to install under finished floors, wood, and tile. But some things haven't changed, including radiant heat's ability to provide spot-on warmth because it provides direct heat to people who come into contact with it.
4. Geothermal heat pump
This option is a system of looped pipes, buried underground where temperatures are warmer, that swirls with water and sends heat into a home through the ducts. (The heat also can be channeled to a radiant floor system). Installing the looped system is an investment, but one that you can expect to recoup in energy savings in three to nine years.
5. Mini-duct forced air heating
Here's an option that might “register” with you if you're determined to preserve as much of your older home's architecture as possible. If your home does not have a central duct system, and your heat source is a standard heat pump, geothermal heat pump or electric furnace, vents can be installed in the ceiling to avoid interference with walls and framing, while the tubing can travel easily around window frames and other obstacles.
There’s no place like your home, and Experts In Your Home understands that you want to preserve the character, charm and architecture that drew you to it in the first place.
Contact us for a quote and one of our heating system service experts will walk you through the possibilities until you're satisfied that you've found the one that warms your heart as much as your home.
