I live in Glenview, Illinois and it gets cold in my area a lot.
I don’t know how I would get by without a proper furnace, and aC I can do without, however heating is a must when you deal with snow and ice consistently, but for years I relied on our home’s aged boiler plan to get by, but every one of us had huge grates spread out through the kitchen floor and a boiler in the basement, then the boiler then heated the air that rose up through the grates.
It was adequate for the icy Wintertide weather in Illinois, however not all that charming looking. I eventually covered up the grates and called a Heating and Air Conditioning business to hook up piping to the boiler. I now have radiant heating throughout my home, pipes are hooked to the boiler and underneath my floorboards, and hot water from the boiler flows through the pipes to create a heating effect, due to it being water and not air based, it is silent in operation! No heated air rises to the ceiling and gets wasted. It also doesn’t allow for cold spots in the beach house and is quite energy smart. I prefer that I can have sleek floors in the house. I really choose to go with hardwood floors; Since I live in a cold weather conditions, I figured I would be doomed to have carpet forever. Since the floorboards are heated, having wood floors does not make a difference. I no longer need to wear socks or slippers in the wintertime too. It feels classy to have a heating plan out of sight.