Radiant Heat

What is Radiant Floor Heating? Radiant floor heating is a superior method of heating your home. h3. What exactly is radiant energy? Here is an excellent description provided by the Radiant Panel Association: Hold your hand over a cup of coffee and feel the heat. The logical conclusion is that heat rises. Logical maybe, but incorrect! "Hot air" rises but "heat" can travel in many directions. That is why you can feel the heat of the coffee cup when you place your hand to the side of it. Radiant energy transfer is caused by a warm surface giving up its heat to a cooler surface. Consider how the sun (10,000° F) heats the earth (61° ). The sun radiates its energy towards the earth. The radiant energy is absorbed by the earth and is released as heat. A radiant floor heating system simply radiates heat upward from the floor to provide optimum comfort and many other benefits. h3. BENEFITS OF RADIANT FLOOR HEATING The number one benefit to a radiant floor heating system is comfort. Whereas a forced air system delivers heat which quickly rises to the ceiling – a radiant floor heating system "radiates" heat from the floor and delivers the heat evenly throughout the rooms. h3. Some of the other benefits: Silent operation – No hum or whistle of a forced air systems. Inconspicuousness of the system- you don’t see vents or hear air blowing. Energy savings – Evenly distributed heat from a radiant floor heating system can allow the thermostat to be set 2-4° less than in a forced air heating system. This can reduce energy costs by 10-40%. (Check with the utility in your area to verify what a 2-4° temperature decrease would amount to in savings in your area). A healthier home – forced air systems can spread dust, pollen, and germs. Even, quiet warmth: even with wood, tile, or uncovered concrete floors. Also, radiant heat is less likely to dry out your breathing passages and skin. h3. Here is an overview to how a radiant floor system works: Warm water circulates through tubing beneath the floor. This turns the flooring into an efficient, low temperature radiator. The heat source to produce the warm water is a boiler with a certified efficiency rating (This same boiler can also be used to heat the pool, snow melting, heating a hot tub, or and domestic hot water needs.) The tubing for a radiant floor heating system is located in one of three places: In the concrete Under wood subfloors On a subfloor of wood, or concrete slab-on-grade – then covered with gypsum. h3. Cooling a Home That Has A Radiant Floor Heating System A home that requires a cooling system will typically have a separate system installed to provide the cooling. The reason is straightforward: heating is ideally delivered from the ground up. Radiant floor heating produces room temperatures very close to ideal: 75° at floor level, declining to 68° at eye level, then to 61° at the ceiling. Cooling, contrastingly, is best delivered through ductwork located near the ceiling of a room. Trying to do both functions with one system will render one or the other less effective. A separate system to deliver just cooling will not be as expensive as a combination heating/cooling system. h3. The bottom line on cost: In a home requiring a cooling system, the net cost of getting radiant floor heating will be the cost of the radiant floor heating system, less the amount saved by not having a heating unit on your forced air cooling system. Natural Waves of Warmth. Warmth is carried to living spaces on invisible waves of radiant energy naturally. Comfort-Comfort-Comfort No other heating system can come close to the high degree of comfort provided by radiant heating. More for Less. The efficient delivery of radiant heat is more comfortable while using less energy. Clean Breathable Air. No air passes through dusty ducts or dirty fins before reaching the room. Even Heating. Radiant systems gently warm the air, leaving no hot air to rise and be wasted at ceilings. Objects are warmed while cold windows and walls are neutralized by the heated surfaces. Silent Running. The quietest way to deliver heat to your home or business. h3. Radiant Heating Methods. Hanging in Joist Space Tubing is suspended several inches beneath the subfloor in the joist space. Insulation is installed in the joist space beneath the tube with a 2 to 4 inch air space between the top of the insulation and the bottom of the subfloor. The air within this space is heated by the tube which, in turn, heats the underside of the subfloor. Staple-up Tubing is attached to the underside of the existing subfloor. Aluminum plates can be used to spread the heat evenly under the subfloor. Insulation is placed in the joist space beneath the tubing. A 2 inch air space is usually left between the insulation and the bottom of the subfloor. If aluminum plates are used which significantly cover the underside of the subfloor, the insulation may be pushed up tight against the plates. Obviously, care must be taken when nailing any floor covering from above. Concrete Slab Tubing or electric heating elements are attached to wire mesh or fixtures to hold them in place until the concrete floor is poured. The tubing or elements are embedded in the concrete anywhere from the bottom of the slab to within 2 inches of the surface, depending on the design and installation technique.