Actual boiler-type furnaces are quite rare in the US, and
No they aren't. Out of 5 apartments I lived in in Chicago, 4
of them had steam heat. So did the apartments of most of my friends.
My grandmother's house in Saint Louis has/had a boiler and steam heat.
It's strongly related to the age of the building,
as well as climate, fuel costs and convenience, etc.
Most modern construction uses forced-air heating,
it's cheap, responds rapidly, doesn't take up room space, and
the ductwork can be used for central air-conditioning.
My condo in Silicon Valley uses electric baseboard heat,
which was a fad in the 60s and 70s when electricity was cheap,
and has high ceilings so it doesn't need A/C in this climate.
My apartment in Berkeley 20+ years ago had a gas-fired wall heater,
relatively small and efficient for a 3-room place.
My house in New Jersey, built in 1931, had steam radiators,
with an oil-fired boiler that was originally coal-fired;
my sister's house in Delaware is a bit older and
has hot-water radiators.
I paid less for winter heat in the Berkeley apartment
than I did for summer electricity in New Jersey;
I pay more now for winter heat in this mild California climate
than I did in New Jersey where the winter gets reasonably cold,
because electricity's more expensive than oil (even with
lower night-time prices) and high ceilings are much better
for keeping cool in the summer than warm in the winter,
plus nobody bothered to insulate buildings out here in the 70s.
Thanks!
Bill
Bill Stewart, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
PGP Fingerprint D454 E202 CBC8 40BF 3C85 B884 0ABE 4639
