Boiler vs. Furnace: Should an Older Home Switch?

• Boiler/radiant strengths: even, quiet, draft-free heat; no duct losses; zoning by loop; radiators don't circulate dust — a real benefit for allergy households.
• Furnace/forced-air strengths: one duct system carries heating, cooling, filtration, and humidification; faster temperature response; more contractors service them; equipment cost is typically lower.
• Boiler weaknesses: no cooling (needs a parallel solution), and radiator placement constrains furniture.
• Forced-air weaknesses: duct losses, dust movement, and noise — plus uneven rooms when duct design is poor.

Building a full duct system inside a finished house: chases through closets, soffits below ceilings, wall openings in plaster, and returns on every level. In the older Des Moines neighborhoods where boilers are common — Beaverdale, Drake, Sherman Hill — this is invasive, disruptive work whose cost routinely surprises homeowners. It's why the standard recommendation for boiler homes needing cooling is to keep the boiler and add ductless mini-splits: full cooling, zero demolition.

Three honest cases: the home already has usable ducts from a previous system; a gut renovation has the walls open anyway; or the boiler and its piping have failed together at end-of-life and the owner wants central air conditioning as part of a larger remodel. Outside those, replace the aging boiler with a modern high-efficiency boiler and keep what the house was designed for.