How Home Heating Works

At Chas Roberts, our certified service technicians know Phoenix heating and cooling. Family owned and operated from the start, we’ve spent 70 years in the Valley as Arizona’s favorite heating and AC service providers. That’s why we know that after a long summer of triple digit temperatures, fall nights with highs of 50 degrees can feel positively frigid. Arizona homeowners count on their central heating to keep their homes warm and families comfortable all winter long – that’s why they trust Chas Roberts.

But have you ever wondered about the mechanics behind home heating? A few months ago, we taught you how air conditioning works. But as the temperatures fall, we want you to know what’s happening in your air ducts.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, home heating accounts for about 30% of energy used in the home. There are a variety of technologies available for home heating – what best suits your needs will depend on where you live and conditions within your home. Since Arizona has a relatively mild winter, many homes use electric furnaces, which convert electricity directly into heat.

Electric furnaces cycle the air in your home through different channels, pulling cooler air into the furnace through return ducts and delivering heated air through supply ducts. Once air is pulled into the return ducts, large fans blow the collected air over the “elements” in your electric furnace. These elements are electric resistance coils, typically charged with about five kilowatts of power.

The elements activate one-by-one to heat up the air in the system, and the large fan blows this air onward to the supply ducts. Safety switches called “limit controllers” monitor the temperature over the elements, preventing the air from overheating by shutting the furnace off should the fans ever fail to move the hot air forward. When the furnace is fully functional, this heated air is then blown onward, traveling through the supply ducts and filling the home with warmth.

Proper care and maintenance are vital for the effectiveness and survival of any Phoenix heating or cooling system. Do you suspect your home heater is not functioning to the best of its ability? Contact the experts at Chas Roberts. Schedule an appointment online or call (602) 943-3426 in Phoenix, (520) 618-1884 in Tucson or (505) 264-7257 in New Mexico.