Radiant floor heating is installed beneath your floorboards. Heated cables or hot water in pipes produces the heat, which then radiates out and into the room. These systems are reliable and durable, as they can work with minimal maintenance for decades longer than the standard forced air furnace. The following can help you decide if radiant floor heating is the best option for your heating needs.
Does Anyone In Your Home Suffer From Airborne Allergies?
Forced air furnaces, the standard in many homes, circulate more than warm air. Dust, dander, pollen, and other allergens are also blown and recirculated through the home. Furnace filtration helps minimize this problem, but it can't alleviate it completely. Radiant floor heating doesn't have this issue. Since the heat is transferred into the room thermally and not through airflow, there are no allergens recirculating throughout the home.
Do You Have Cold, Hard to Heat Spaces?
Some spaces are simply harder to heat with a single air vent. Utility rooms and bathrooms are common examples. Spaces with a store of cold air below them, such as a garage attic apartment or rooms above an unheated basement or crawlspace, can also be hard to heat with forced air. This is because most of the heat will be lost long before the room temperature actually rises. Radiant heating provides a consistent source of heat that rises slowly from the bottom of the room to the top. The heat is replaced as soon as it is lost after it has already warmed up the room.
Are Your Hard Floors Uncomfortable In Winter?
Radiant floor heating can be used with nearly any type of flooring material, from carpeting to stone and tile. It really shines on hard flooring though. One issue with tile, wood, linoleum, and stone floors in the winter is that the floor surface can remain uncomfortably cold even when the air temperature is warm. With radiant heating, the floor is always warm and comfortable so there is no need to worry about cold toes.
Is Energy Usage a Major Concern?
Even the most energy-efficient of forced air furnaces can't compete with the efficiency of radiant heating. Forced air systems, even well built and maintained ones, always suffer from some air leakage. Further, the energy necessary to drive the blower must also be considered. Radiant heating requires less energy to heat and there are no blowers to power. Further, air leaks aren't usually an issue.
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then radiant floor heating may be the right choice for your home.
Share25 September 2020
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