Furnaces & Boilers

Boiler and furnaces, like other HVAC equipment, continues to evolve and OEMs continue to add features like improved zoning control, self-diagnostics and much more while also improving system efficiencies. While boilers and furnaces have many similarities, they operate in markedly different ways. A furnace heats air that is distributed throughout a building via blower motors, fans, and the building’s duct system. A boiler uses hot water to heat a building. Hot water boilers distribute heat through small hot water pipes using a pump to heat baseboard, cast iron radiators, or radiant flooring systems. A steam boiler distributes steam through a network of pipes to heat via radiators or similar heat distribution systems. Boilers, also known as hydronic heat systems, can run on gas, oil, electricity, or alternative fuels such as wood pellets. A range of sensors and controls are key to operate these systems at peak efficiencies as well as improving the overall comfort for occupants. For furnaces, pressure sensors provide feedback and control for air movement for combustion, zoning, and filter monitoring while temperature sensors monitor actual air temperature both inside and outside as well as flue gas temperature and humidity sensors can monitor humidity for indoor and outdoor air as well as for exhaust air. Boilers have a similar array of sensors for monitoring and control but utilize pressure transducers for system pressure and different configurations of temperature probes to monitor and control water and/or steam temperature. For larger commercial systems, additional sensors are being added to improve self-diagnostic capabilities and to help implement preventative maintenance. For example, a range of vibration sensors can be used to monitor fans, blowers, and pumps to look for issues like fan imbalance, bearing wear and other issues. This allows for repair or replacement of components or equipment before failures occur helping to improve uptime and to prevent major failures and expensive repairs.