RADIANT FLOOR HEATING |
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Hydronic Radiant Floors
Hydronic (liquid) systems are the most popular and cost-effective radiant heating systems. Hydronic radiant floor systems pump heated water from a boiler through tubing laid in a pattern underneath the floor. The temperature in each room is controlled by regulating the flow of hot water through each tubing loop. So-called "wet" installations embed the tubing within a solid floor of concrete or gypsum, creating a giant heat sink storing heat at a steady even temperature. So-called "dry" installations run tubing in an air space beneath the subfloor. These systems are generally less expensive and faster to build, but require a higher operating temp for the radiant system. Radiant heating is superior to forced air heating because buoyant air rises wastefully to the ceiling in forced air systems, warming the upper body, particulaly the head, and leaving the lower body cool. In contrast, in floor radiant heating warms the lower part of both the room and the body. This imparts a feeling of natural warmth, since the limbs should ideally be warmer than the head. Asthma sufferers benefit from underfloor heating because it reduces the airborne circulation of both dust and dust mites. |
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What is Radiant Floor Heating?
Radiant heating systems involve supplying heat directly to the floor or to panels in the wall or ceiling of a house. The systems depend largely on radiant heat transfer: the delivery of heat directly from the hot surface to the people and objects in the room via the radiation of heat, which is also called infrared radiation. Radiant heating is the effect you feel when you can feel the warmth of a hot stovetop element from across the room. When radiant heating is located in the floor, it is often called radiant floor heating.
Radiant heating has a number of advantages:
1. It is more efficient than baseboard heating and usually more efficient than forced-air heating because no energy is lost through ducts.
2. The lack of moving air can be advantageous to people with severe allergies.
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Hydronic (liquid-based) systems use little electricity, a benefit for homes off the power grid or in areas with high electricity prices.
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Hydronic systems can be heated with a wide variety of energy sources, including standard gas- or oil-fired boilers, wood-fired boilers, solar water heaters, or some combination of these heat sources. Source: Department of Energy
http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/space_heating_cooling/index.cfm/mytopic=12590 |
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Slab over precast plank for commercial use. |
Slab on grade |
Poured underlayment on a suspended wood subfloor |
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