For many thousands of years, harkening back to the days of ancient Manchuria, Korea – even the Romans – in homes and villas across time, the favored method of providing heat has been radiant floor heating.
While not exactly a new method of heating new technology in providing that heat has made it safer, more convenient and much, much, safer.
Modern Radiant Floor Heating
In modern systems there are a few ways of installing them:
- Inside concrete slabs as they’re poured
- On top of the concrete, but underneath the floor covering
- Directly underneath or on top of the wooden subfloor
Laying of the heating elements inside concrete is often the preferred method due to it being able to act as a heat sink, charged up during off-peak and slowly radiating heat in times of peak-power usage. However, if retrofitting radiant floor heating to a home, this not usually an option.
Installing the elements on top of the concrete foundation but underneath the floor covering of your choice, ideally ceramic tile, stone, or laminated wood, is the best option if you don’t want to bust out the jackhammers.
But what types of systems are available?
Available Floor Heating Systems
While hot air can still be used to heat a floor it is rarely done these days as it is terribly inefficient. There are two much more efficient, and by far more common, methods of heating floors:
- Electric resistance
- Hydronic
Electric heating is pretty much what it sounds like: using electricity to heat special wiring under the floors and transferring its heat to the floor. In houses without a capable boiler, or for homeowners only want the heated floors in one or two rooms, this is an economical solution. And while a whole house can be heated this way, it is usually not as efficient as they hydronic systems.
Using either hot water or a mixture of propylene glycol and water, hydronic systems make use of plastic tubing that loops under the floor like the electric wiring does, but requires a more involved setup. The tubing will need to be connected to the homes boiler and a pump used to circulate the water, which increases installation costs and complexity. However the system is sometimes as much as 30% more efficient than an electric system.
Electric floor heating provides a touch of luxury and helps to keep the house free of dust and allergens by not necessitating the circulation of hot air. If you would like to discuss your options for electric floor heating, then give us a call Amber Air Conditioning Inc. today!
