Comparing Radiant Floor Heating to Conventional Heat Distribution

Space heating is expensive. It accounts for approximately 50% of the energy costs for your home or business. In an age of increasing energy costs, home and business owners need to look for more efficient, alternative methods for heating. While most people still rely on conventional methods such as forced air heating, many environmentally conscious individuals are turning to radiant floor heating as a means to reduce their energy bill and energy use.

The following will compare and contrast radiant floor and conventional heating distribution methods.

How Conventional Heating Works

Conventional systems rely on forced air. This means that air is forced into the conditioner (your furnace), where it picks up warmth from heating coils and is then pushed back into your home or business through the vents. Therefore, people absorb heat as it fills the room.
The downfall of this system is that the warm air rises and moves up toward the ceiling, which leaves the floors in the room cool to the touch and can cause cold spots in your home.

How Radiant Floor Heating Works

Radiant floors do not use forced air to heat rooms. In radiant floor heating systems, heat is transferred from a warm surface (water circulates through tubing that is installed under your flooring) to a cooler surface (your floor). This transforms your flooring into an efficient, temperature-regulated radiator. Uniform temperature throughout the room provides more comfort and added temperature control in comparison to conventional heat distribution systems. As a result, homes and businesses will have a very uniform temperature from the ceiling to the floor, known as destratification.

The Comparison

• While energy and heat loss is often caused by the opening of doors in high traffic buildings, radiant flooring is less affected by this because heat is not primarily absorbed by the air.

• Conventional systems often results in cold spots in rooms. Radiant heat ensures that cold spots are avoided.

• Air drafts and rising heat from forced air systems can cause discomfort and increased heating costs, where as radiant heating is more controlled and allows for heat to be transferred at different temperatures in different rooms.

• Forced air systems tend to take a while to heat spaces. Radiant heat, on the other hand, warm up cold rooms directly, without wasting energy on heating the whole building.

• Forced-air heating systems can tend to pick up dust and disperse it through the air. This is not ideal for people with allergies. Radiant heating does not circulate air, making it an ideal choice for people with allergies as the transfer of dust is greatly reduced.

Radiant floor benefits

Radiant heat is widely known as the most comfortable and efficient heating method available. Radiant heat is very much like what you feel from the sun and it is the best way to warm your house or business. It continues to gain in popularity because of its comfort, air quality, silence and low maintenance system operation, and its ability to reduce both energy and heating costs.