Southeast Indiana Properties

Radiant Electric Floor Heat

Electric radiant heating systems employ a heating cable which can be installed below the flooring between the floor joists, under carpet, vinyl, or wood floor coverings, in the walls or ceilings. These are usually the easiest and economical systems to install, but operating costs may be higher than hydronic systems.

Electric radiant floor heating systems are available in several different forms. The systems range from simple supplementary heat to whole house systems capable of supplying radiant heat to your home.

Like other radiant systems, the benefits of electric floor heat includes more efficient heat delivery methods, even room heating, and warm feet!

Supplemental electric radiant heat includes simple mats to be laid down on the floor and room size heating cables which can be placed under carpet, wood floor, ceramic tile and vinyl flooring.

Whole house radiant heating systems utilize a number of different methods of delivering the heat. There are mesh-type screens designed to be stapled directly to the sub-floor of the home and the floor covering installed directly above it. The floor covering can be vinyl, wood, carpet, or ceramic tile.

Electric heating cables can also be installed, covered with a masonry material, and the flooring installed over this.

One interesting type can be installed between the floor joists of an existing home, or new construction. Insulation is then placed under the heating mesh to force the heat up into the home.

Electric radiant floor heating, like other radiant heating, can be “zoned”. This means each room in the home can be set up in its own distinct heating zone and the temperature individually controlled. Thus rooms little used can be kept cooler than rooms which are occupied more often.

Electric radiant floor heating is easy enough to install that the do-it-yourselfer can install at least a major portion of the system. Electrical connections to the main electric panel can be made by a qualified electrician.

Radiant In Floor Heat For Your Home

Tags: Home Heating

Hydronic Radiant Floor Heat Systems

Hydronic radiant floor heat systems consist of hot water pipes running below the floor joists, or under the floor covering. The hot water in the tubing warms the floor and rises into the living space of the home, heating it. These systems are typically more expensive to install, but the operating costs can be lower. .

Many options are available for heating the water in hydronic systems as natural gas, LP gas, oil, electric, solar, or wood heating sources may be used to heat the water. In small homes a large domestic water heater may be used to supply the water for the system, larger homes may require a boiler. Some systems allow the hot water heater to provide both domestic hot water and water to the heating system

The system usually tries to keep the floor around eighty degrees farenheight. This temperature is about right for people, as they feel comfortable at that temperature. And since the heat is produced at floor level, the feet are warm. And it the feet are warm the whole body feels warm.

Because radiant heating systems warm the objects in the room first, then the air, heating is much more comfortable. Air stratification is not a problem with hydronic floor heat, like forced air. With forced air the warm air is up on the ceiling. That is OK if that is where people spent their time. But very few people sit on the ceiling.

Hydronic radiant floor heating, like other radiant heating, can be “zoned”. This means each room in the home can be set up in its own distinct heating zone and the temperature individually controlled. Thus rooms little used can be kept cooler than rooms which are occupied more often.

Installation of a hydronic radiant floor heat system can be a do-it-yourself project. New materials and kits are available to make the job easier and faster. This can also bring the installation cost down.

Radiant In Floor Heat For Your Home

Tags: Home Heating

Types of Radiant Heat

When you are exploring the option of installing radiant heat for your home you will find there are several different types of systems. Which type of radiant heat you choose will depend upon the design of the home, the fuel sources available and your preferences.

Hydronic radiant heat is the most popular type of radiant heat, as well as the most versitle. It can be installed in a concrete slab before pouring and under floor joists. It can utilize just about any heat source including solar, electric, oil, propane or natural gas. Hydronic heat may also be installed in a sidewalk to be used to melt snow and ice.

Electric cables is another type of radiant heat which can be installed in the home. These can also be installed in a concrete slab or under a wood subfloor. This type of radiant heat may also be installed in concrete sidewalks and driveways to melt snow and ice. This type of radiant heat system may also be installed under ceramic floor tiles.

Another type of electric radiant heat are heating panels which may be installed under subfloors or above ceilings. The panels typically come in rolls which are cut to length and stapled in place between floor or ceiling joists.

Looking for something which may be installed over a wood or concrete subfloor. There is a type of electric low voltage radiant heat available for this purpose. Z-mesh from Warmzone is a bronze screen which may be stapled to wood, or glued to concrete. Carpet, laminate, or tile may be installed directly over this low voltage heating system.

Radiant In Floor Heat For Your Home

Tags: Home Heating

How Does Radiant Heat Work

How Does Radiant Heat Work

Radiant heat works using a process called conduction. In other words, heat is conducted from the energy source to the floor. The floor then conducts the heat to the room above it. There is very little loss of heat using this system. By contrast, a furnace heats by convection. The furnace heats the air, it is moved by a fan through ductwork to the areas of the home needing heat. This involves a lot of loss in energy as the air loses heat to the ductwork and some is lost through the flu of the furnace.

The sun heats the earth using infrared rays which travel from the sun to the earth through space. When these rays strike the earth, they warm it. Radiant heat warms your home using these same rays. As the infrared rays emanate from the heat source, the floor is warmed, then the area directly above it. Since heat rises, radiant heat puts the heat where it is needed – at your feet. In convection heating systems, the warm air rises to the ceiling. Who sits on the ceiling? Radiant heat works best if it installed under the floor of the home.

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Hydronic systems use pipes installed directly under the floor. Electric systems use either heating cables or panels. Hydronic systems can use any one of several different types of fuel sources – electric, gas, wood, propane or oil. Radiant heat is more efficient and comfortable because the objects in the room are heated directly by the heating system. Floors, furniture, carpets, and of course humans, are warmed by the infrared rays radiating upwards from the heating system.

Radiant heat does not circulate air in the home. Thus, mold, dust, pollen and other contaminats in the atmosphere of the home are cut down. Because of the way it works, radiant heat is the cleanest, most efficient way to heat a home.

Radiant In Floor Heat For Your Home

Tags: Home Heating

Radiant In Floor Heat For Your Home

Radiant In Floor Heat For Your Home

Radiant in floor heat for your home is the most efficient way to deliver heat to your home. The heat is produced just below the floor of the dwelling, not in a furnace that must be piped to the various rooms. Since the heat is produced under the floor, occupants of the room feel warmer than they do with a conventional forced air heating system. And the room air temperature may be kept lower than a conventional system needs to be kept, since feet are near the heat source and are kept warm.

There are two basic radiant heating systems available to heat your home -resistance radiant heat and hydronic radiant heat.

Resistance heating systems employ a heating cable which can be installed below the flooring between the floor joists, under carpet, vinyl, or wood floor coverings, in the walls or ceilings. These are usually the easiest and economical systems to install, but operating costs may be higher than hydronic systems.

Hydronic systems consist of hot water pipes running below the floor joists. The hot water in the tubing warms the floor and rises into the living space of the home, heating it. These systems are typically more expensive to install, but the operating costs can be lower. More options are available for heating the water in hydronic systems as natural gas, LP gas, oil, electric, solar, or wood heating sources may be used to heat the water.

The benefits of a radiant in floor heating system are numerous. Forced air systems blow dust and other allergins around the home, as ductwork fills with dust over time. Radiant heating systems will not do this. Because radiant systems can be 100% efficient in heat delivery, operating costs are usually much lower than other types of heating systems. Especially the resistance radiant system, because there is no loss to waste heat going up a chimney, or duct loss.

How Does Radiant Heat Work

Hydronic Radiant Floor Heat Systems

Types of Radiant Heat

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Tags: Home Heating