Heating and Air Conditioning Changes with the Times

Like with many things in life and in the construction world, the technologies and concepts involved in today’s HVAC systems continue to evolve as various trends become popular. Unlike most things in popular culture however, trends in this area are likely here to stay.

Depending on where you live, there’s a good chance that heating and air conditioning play an important role in your home and the lives of those who live in it.

Whether you live in a cold climate where it is vitally necessary to keep warm, or sweat through oppressive heat in a warm climate and need to stay cool to be comfortable, your house’s ability to meet these needs is one of its most important responsibilities.

Heating and air conditioning, like anything else with a home, has evolved considerably over time. Both aspects of what is now a single, centralized unit date back centuries to crude methods of achieving both. Homes and dwellings have been heated for as long as fire has been around and have been cooled since the first fan was employed. Since then, technology has evolved considerably.

In recent decades, advancements in heating and air conditioning have been defined most prominently by the increasing presence of the centralized HVAC system that supplies both warming and cooling abilities as well as ventilation to every room in a house via a central control. With that concept at heart, trends continue to evolve that take that basic concept to the next levels and beyond.

One of the main focuses of today’s current trends is the quality of the airflow itself. Filtration systems are commonly installed in today’s HVAC systems to keep the amount of airborne contaminants flowing in and out of a home to a minimum. Moisture control meters are also being found more commonly to keep airflow from being to dry and cold or two moist and warm.

Often the most commonly sought-after and applied advancements involve energy efficiency. This can involve both making the system itself more efficient and cheaper to operate as well as making it friendlier and having less of an impact on the surrounding environment.

Adjustable thermostats that allow homeowners to program their home to reach and remain at a certain temperature, or even vary within certain limits depending on the time of day or conditions outside help keep the system from overworking and maintain more affordable energy bills.

Systems that rely on natural energy take efficiency to the next level. Solar panels can be used to extract heat from the sun to help warm a home and power the system. Pumps that draw warmth from the ground or from underground water can also warm a house as effectively as a conventional unit for a fraction of the cost.

There are a number of other trends in heating and air conditioning that continue to make it more effective and efficient, and there will likely be more advancement in the coming years that continue this trend. Because this technology exists, it is smart to look into ways to improve the methods by which you keep your own house comfortable.