Comparison of various HVAC systems

The systems of heating and cooling have gained high degree of popularity in the recent years and its diverse applications can be noticed in various sectors of homes and businesses. In the present market conditions it has become a necessity for many sectors. Heating and cooling system maintenance plays a vital role in the sustenance and maintenance of these systems in the long run and helps prevent any of the major breakdowns to take place. There are many different systems available in this regard which has flooded the market and has enabled the users to compare the available systems in terms of safety, user-friendliness, costs of operation and installation etc.

Basically there are two types of systems based on the requirement of a flame used to operate the systems. The systems that use the flame to operate are known as combustion based systems. These systems are extremely popular and create heat by the process of combustion. In fact they use a furnace to burn the fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas or propane and in turn produces heat by burning these fuels. These are the most common and primarily used systems. In addition to the above there is various advanced form of systems which operates by employing the process of heat transfer from one location to the other.

The heat transfer systems are also known as non-combustion systems and comprises of the systems such as geothermal and air-source heat pumps. Air-source heat pumps mainly operate by using the heat energy of the outside air and then transferring the same within a house or business apartment, whereas the geothermal systems operate by capturing and then transferring the heat from the earth.

The combustion-based systems were preferred as the most practical and efficient heating systems both for home and businesses because of their high degree of affordability and availability. But there are various safety and maintenance issues that are associated with this system. The HVAC systems are very much prone to explosion hazards in case the storage or the delivery of the fuels is not controlled in proper way or system. In the respect of a proper heating and cooling system maintenance plays the key role in preventing all forms of hazardous explosions by properly installing and maintaining the gas pipes and other related delivery systems. Since these systems requires flame to operate and carry out the function, thus failure or improper installation of the components of the system such as heat exchanger, chimney, damper leads to heavy loss of life and property by generating sudden explosions.

In addition to the above threats on part of safety there also exist other issues such as the by-products produced by these systems are generally the poisonous carbon monoxide which causes serious health threats.

While comparing various HVAC systems on should consider various aspects such as installation cost, operation cost, maintenance cost etc. The selection process can be simplified by combining all the costs such as installation, operation and maintenance into a single life-cycle cost.