Radiant Heating Keeps the Home Cozy From the Ground Up

Radiant heating is a concept that has been around for thousands of years. If you have ever warmed yourself by a fire or dried gloves on top of a radiator, you know how radiant heating feels.

Hydronic radiant heating refers to any type of heating system that uses hot water to warm a space. A modern variety is radiant floor heating, a method that keeps your home cozy from the ground up. It involves running hot water-filled tubes through concrete beneath the floor. Heat from the water radiates upward to warm your home.

If you’re considering a radiant heating system in your home, consider the benefits.

• More consistent heating: The entire floor radiates heat evenly and consistently, bidding farewell to the hot and cold spots caused by forced-air heating that can result in a 15-degree difference between the ceiling and the floor.
• Unlimited furniture arrangements: With no return and supply registers to worry about, you can place furniture wherever you want.
• Combine hot water needs: Certain systems incorporate hot water requirements for cooking and bathing to eliminate the need to buy a separate water heater.
• Easily create zones: Electronic controls let you send heat to the areas you need it for customized home zoning.
• Lower energy bills: Once heated, the water in radiant piping continues to give off heat for hours so you stay comfortable while enjoying lower energy bills. Radiant heating is also not subject to energy losses associated with leaky ductwork. In addition, by eliminating fans that pressurize your home, less air is squeezed out of gaps and cracks in your home’s outer envelope.
• Better air quality: Forced-air heating circulates dust and debris hiding in the ductwork around your home. They also require an air filter to trap contaminants that want nothing more than you enter the air you breathe. Neither of these situations occurs with radiant heating.

For more information on radiant heating systems, please contact Sobieski Services, Inc. Our goal is to help educate our customers in Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC & plumbing systems).

Image Credit: Espen Faugstad