Looking for Heating Options Comparing Hot Water & Steam Radiators
Radiators are a type of heating appliance that provide heating to your home through individual units that are installed in each room of your home. They can be either the sole heating appliance in your home, or can supplement a central heating unit. There are two main types of radiators that are commonly installed in residential homes: hot water and steam powered radiators. Understanding the differences in features and characteristics that both types of radiators offer your home can help you choose the one that best fits your heating needs.
Steam Radiators
Steam radiators create steam in a central unit, which is then transported to individual units in each respective room. The main benefit of steam radiators is that they actually provide moisture into the air of the rooms they are installed in, which can help increase the comfort level of your home.
However, steam radiators are an older form of heating that come with several distinctive downsides. Firstly, the fact that they push steam into rooms means that they can create a mess and expose furniture, flooring, and other surfaces to water damage and warping over time. Secondly, and perhaps more notably, is the fact that steam radiators are extremely loud while in operation, and can rattle and shake when turned on. This can be extremely disruptive, especially for units that are installed in bedrooms.
Hot Water Radiators
Hot water radiators, like their name would suggest, work by pumping hot water through pipes from a central boiler to each individual radiator. The hot water will heat up the metal of the radiator, transferring the heat to the air in that room, where it can then naturally spread itself around. They can either come in the large, traditional radiator design, which provides greater surface area and thus greater heating, or in baseboard models that provide a low profile and leave more space in the room they are installed in, allowing you to customize the aesthetic of your heating units. Finally, hot water radiators tend to be more energy efficient than their steam counterparts, as a pump moves water through the system at a constant rate.
However, hot water radiators do not provide any sort of humidity to the rooms that they are installed in, and can actually dry up the air in your home, which can reduce comfort levels in the dry winter months. Further, they are not immune to water damage: if a leak develops in an individual radiator or a piece of the system's plumbing, you may be facing fairly serious and expensive repairs.
To learn more about your options, contact your local HVAC specialists.
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