Home Design Guides: Heating, Climate control

House too cold? Wish your home would stay warm longer when you use a heater? Read our tips on how to improve the heating in your house.

Heating and cooling can be very expensive, and knowing what you're paying to use your heaters and air conditioners is a good way to rein in your usage. Here's how to calculate your costs.

Ever noticed that some houses are cooler or warmer than others without relying heavily on powered cooling or heating devices? This usually comes down to clever design...

Because of the fuels they use, problems with heaters have the potential to be quite serious. Find out how to deal with problems with your heater.

Heating is generally dealt with in terms of either heating a building, or heating a small space. These two scenarios require very different approaches and technologies.

Different heaters suit different purposes - and vary widely in terms of cost, efficiency and effectiveness. Make sure you choose the right types for your home.

There are a great many different types of heater, all with different merits and shortcomings, and suitable scenarios in which they are the best possible choice.

There are many different types of heaters, and many different sorts of fuels you can use to heat your home. Find out how each compares in terms of energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions.

In cooler climates, you may need a heater that heats quickly and which isn't affected by the room's humidity.

Heaters and air conditioners can easily account for most of your energy consumption if you allow them to. Find out what you can do to minimise the need for artificial heating and cooling, and to reduce your consumption.

There are many different ways to keep warm - and many practical differences between different types of heater.

Geothermal heat pump systems are able to draw heat from the ground to use for cooling your home. Geothermal systems are expensive to install but very cheap to run.

Artificially cooling an area depends heavily on how well you can keep heat out of it. Good insulation is vital to ensuring that your house remains cool.

Depending on where you live and how you heat the rest of your house, you may need extra heating in your bathroom.

While the type of heater is an important consideration, so is where you put it, the availability and cost of fuel, and of course how much it'll cost to buy and run - among other things...

Not all heating fuels are created equal. Find out what the practical differences are between the various fuels you can use to heat your home.

Solid fuel heaters run on coal, wood and other combustible fuels. Where you live can have a big effect on the cost of solid fuels.

Natural gas is a relatively cheap fuel for heating, and is a popular option where gas reticulation is available.

Electricity is used for all kinds of heaters, but is particularly popular for space heaters because of how quickly they produce heat.

Reverse cycle airconditioners are effectively heat pump heaters. They are a cheap and efficient heating option, and provide both heating and cooling.