Like warm air systems, hot water heating systems are of two types, we have gravity and forced or also known as hydronic. The first type which is the gravity hot water is usually found in older family houses, but in most cases these water heating systems have been converted to a forced water heating system. Gravity water heating systems does not make use of any water pump but use larger pipes and radiators. They don’t tend to heat evenly, they also respond very slowly, and they can only heat spaces above the level of where their boiler is located. The gravity water heating system is simple but is limited or suited only to smaller hot water heating systems. Like gravity warm air systems, they are also considered to be inefficient and usually they should be replaced after a certain period.
The second type which is the forced hot water system is usually heated by gas-fired or oil-fired boilers. Most of the times they woulld probably use immersion-type electric resistance heating coils. These coils are used to replace the burner found in gas-fired and oil-fired boilers. They make use of a water pump which produces the circulation. The hot water pump and pipes distributed for electrically heated systems are the same as to those of gas-fired and oil-fired hot water systems. This is actually a practical solution for bigger water systems.
No matter if the temperature of the water is cold or hot the water will be forced to circulate. The pipes, radiators, air heaters, valves and heating elements can be minimized because of higher flow and higher mean temperatures. Heating cold water for the first time using a forced water heating system, the air released becomes trapped in the convectors which prevents hot water to enter. To release this air, convectors are installed with air vents that can be opened using a screwdriver until the hot water goes out. Water heating systems can be divided into zones with one or more rooms controlled by a thermostatic “zone valve”. Some use insulating pipes to improve efficiency on the water system. However there is another option which may be costly and that is to install thermostatic valves on each convector.
Another option for a hot water heating system for your basement is a boiler but is more costly to install than other types of heating systems, but are generally easy, trouble-free, very efficient, and it last much longer than the others. Today newer heating systems use non-metallic piping; they install it under floors which distribute hot water in the rooms to be heated. However others use a domestic oil or gas-fired hot water tank with a circulating pump and the hot water directed to convectors.
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