What Is Forced Air Heating?

What Does Forced Air Heating Mean?

A forced air heating system draws in air from inside your home, heats it, and then sends it back into your home using a blower fan via ducts.

The Pros and Cons of Forced Air Heating

If you’re asking what is an advantage of forced air heating, here are some of the pros and cons.

The Pros

There are plenty of benefits of using a forced air heating solution in your home.

Energy Costs

Forced air heating systems are energy-efficient. The most common forced air heating systems use natural gas which is cheaper to operate than electric systems. Systems can be equipped with an electric furnace, gas furnace, a hydronic coil, or heat pump. Units have come a long way in the last decade and today’s forced air heating systems are significantly more energy-efficient than even those installed just a few years ago.

Heating Time

Heating forced air and returning it will warm your home quickly through your ductwork. It’s heated directly by a heat source and then distributed. With other systems, you may have to wait for water to heat or be distributed from a central system. Rooms can feel warmer more quickly as the air coming out of the vent is being forced and will circulate in the room rather than radiate.

Easy to Install

If you have existing ductwork for a heater or air conditioner, the installation is easy. The existing ductwork can be used.

Reliability

Electric or heat pumps are less reliable than forced air heating systems. The ductwork has fewer moving parts that can break down. The components are simple. Parts such as fans, belts, or motors are easy to replace in case there’s ever a problem.

Cost-Effective

Forced air heating is economical. Because installation is easier, this typically lowers the price. Other systems, such as radiant heaters, are more expensive.

Air Filtering

The incoming air goes through a filtering process that can help improve the quality of your indoor air.

The Cons

When considering a forced air heating solution, there are some additional things you should know about.

Noise

Forced air heating is not silent. While recent advances have made them quiet than ever, you are going to pushing air through ducts using pressure and you may notice it when the unit kicks on.

Air Ducts

Any closed heating or cooling system using ducts has the potential for dust or mold accumulation. When the forced air blows over the dust, it can spread it around. Replacing filters and providing routine maintenance can mitigate any potential issues.

Because air flows through the ducts, there can be some heat loss while the air is being distributed. It’s no different than any other type of duct-based heater or air conditioner. If there’s a leak in the ducts, however, you could lose some of the efficiency associated with forced air heaters.

Central Control

The temperature of the air is controlled by a thermostat, which manages temps throughout your home. While this delivers warm air to every room, there can be some uneven heating due to the distance the air has to travel and some loss in the ducts, and the location of the ducts themselves. Individual temperature controls for each room are not typically installed. You may also experience some cooler spots, especially near windows or outside doors if they are poorly insulated.

Installation

Installation is easy if you have ducts and insulation already in place. If you don’t have existing ductwork, the cost can add up quickly.

Baseboard Heat vs Forced Air

An alternative to forced air heating is to use baseboard heaters. These can be set up to heat different zones or even individual rooms in your home. They are typically installed underneath windows to avoid any cool air coming in. Electric units heat single rooms. This allows you to choose which rooms to heat and not have to heat the entire house if you desire.

Convection baseboard heaters draw in the cool air in your home and push out warm air. Hydronic baseboard heaters heat up the liquid inside the unit which then heats the air.

Baseboard heaters will take longer to heat up and you’ll notice it stay warmer near the heater and cooler the farther away you get.

Not sure if your service is gas or electric? Check out this great guide on is forced air heating gas or electric.