Comparing Commercial Boilers to Residential Boilers

A lot of people ask the question, what is the difference between commercial boilers, and a residential boiler system? Some people believe that the difference between these items is the quality of the device. There are people that believe if you purchase something designed for commercial use you will be getting a higher quality product, but the truth is the quality of commercial boilers and residential systems is the same. The difference between the two systems is the size of the units.

These systems are sized by the number of BTUs (British Thermal Units) and not by the actual size of the unit. A BTU is a British Thermal Units. This is a way to measure the amount of heat or cooling capacity a device has. A British Thermal Units is said to be equal to the amount of heat that would be produced by one single match. In order for these units to be described as commercial boilers they must be at least a three hundred thousand BTU device. Anything less than a three hundred thousand BTU device is considered to be appropriate for residential use.

Both types of units can be powered by several different heat sources. The main types of fuels that are used on both these device sizes are propane gas, natural gas, and electricity. In the past coal burning units were fairly popular as were wood burners and oil burners. Heating oil became obsolete do to the price of the heating oil and coal became obsolete as a fuel because of the difficulty in storing and in firing the unit with the material. Wood burners were operated fairly cheaply, but the difficulty in getting the wood and having someone keep the fire going in the furnace made wood obsolete.

Natural gas is used the most frequently in the commercial industries because they are capable of having this fuel piped directly to the unit in question. The fuel is cost efficient and it is extremely convenient. In commercial applications convenience and ease of use are often more important factors than the cost of an item. Some residential areas do not have piped natural gas lines so these people will choose either the electric powered units are the propane powered units. All of the devices are efficient and less costly to run than the alternative appliances.

Forced air heating units are the most popular in homes and in commercial settings the forced air systems are also very popular. When a commercial business has several rooms or offices that require heated or cooled air forced air devices are chosen for this job. The forced air device has a central location and duct work is installed in the walls or the ceilings to transport the heated air to each different section. These units are efficient, but they can be slightly noisy. They are quick to raise or lower the temperature of an area and the different sections of the property have the ability to adjust the temperature in their space by using closable vents and thermostat controls.