I had an old boiler system in my basement.
Metal grates were all over my living room floor.
The boiler would heat as well as the hot air would rise up through the grates. That is how my lower part of my home got heated. It really was quite effective. The condo felt toasty as well as I never seemed to have cold spots. I hated the look of those metal grates though. It was so ugly as well as you were limited on where furniture went. So I covered up most of them but the main, central grate. When there was only 1 opening for heating, it was no longer as effective. I then was ready to toss the boiler once it died. After that the last grate was covered up as well as I had a beautiful living room. I treated myself to a gas fireplace with a faux wood burning fire. It had a big wooden mantle as well as a glass front. It truly was pretty. It wasn’t so superb at heating though. I had to get a supplemental furnace for the kitchen because it just could not do the task. The living room always had cold spots as well as the heat truly liked to linger on the ceiling. It was kind of a pain; Now I am on my second heating system. When the fireplace died I ripped it out as well as went back to a boiler system. Now though, I have piping within my floorboards. The boiler heats water that flows through the pipes for a heating effect. You don’t see anything, but you suppose the heat. It is a way better way to provide heating in the home.