When you’re in the process of switching heating systems, your first decision will likely be which fuel source you use. Homeowners in the Indianapolis area have several choices for heat generation that include natural gas, home heating oil and heat pumps. Each has advantages and disadvantages in terms of availability and comfort.
Natural Gas
The use of natural gas is widespread in Indianapolis and throughout the U.S. It’s used for cooking, water heating and clothes drying, and the majority of neighborhoods have access to it. Gas furnaces are easy to install, durable and affordable. If you have gas running to your property or a gas furnace already, replacing it with another unit makes sense.
Heating Oil
Of all the heating system types, an oil furnace or boiler delivers the most heat for every unit of fuel burned. These heating systems have the longest lifetimes of all heating equipment, although their initial costs exceed those of equivalent natural gas systems and oil is the most expensive heating fuel. The downsides of oil heating systems are that they require routine oil filter changes and the fuel has to be stored in a tank on your property. Tanks can develop leaks and you’ll have to plan ahead for refills.
Heat Pumps
Until recently, heat pumps weren’t as viable an option for switching heating systems, since they rely on the heat in outdoor air to provide warmth. Originally used in southern states where winters seldom drop below freezing, heat pumps use electricity efficiently to extract heat from the air.
Technological improvements over the years now make heat pumps viable options in colder climates like ours. Dual-fuel heat pumps combine the ability to use gas heating for those exceptionally cold days. Since these systems extract heat instead of creating it, they don’t need a combustible fuel and they work as highly efficient air conditioners in the summertime.
If you’d like more information when you’re switching heating systems, contact the pros at Mowery Heating and Plumbing to learn more about each type available. We’ve provided trusted HVAC services for Indianapolis homeowners for more than 40 years.
Our goal is to help educate our customers in Brownsburg, Indiana and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).
