Underfloor Heating and Your Home: A Perfect Match

Posted by Jeremy Szechenyi on November 26, 2009

Heat radiation is the simple concept that heat will move from warmer to cooler areas. Underfloor heating utilizes heat radiation as a method of heating an area. Wood stoves utilize heat radiation to heat entire homes very effectively. Underfloor heating an also heat entire home very effectively and efficiently.

The first thing to do is deciding what radiant heating type you want. Two types of underfloor heating exist. Determining which one you want can allow you to assess the requirements needed to install it in your home.

The First Type: Electric radiant heating.

2nd Variation: Hot Water

Electric underfloor heating uses electric coils that are warmed by a low electrical current. They are normally in roll out mats, and can be customized to an area pretty easily.

With the hot water underfloor radiant heating, pipes filled with hot water are used. A hot water tank heats the water, a pump cycles the hot water, repeating to maintain a desired temperature.

Underfloor radiant heating produces lowered levels of loss of heat due to the radiant heat transfer. Items on the floor, and the floor itself, absorb the heat. It is released over time slowly, keeping a steady temperature in the room. This is different from the atypical temperature fluctuations in forced hot air cycles.

Due to the nature of heating the area close to the floor, underfloor heating is very efficient. There is less heat loss to the rising of hot air, as with other heat variations.

You could also apply geothermal and solar to your system to help reduce heating bills. This would allow you to reduce your carbon footprint.

If you are going to remodel your house or want to install new, efficient heating, consider underfloor heating as a good choice.

If you are interested in learning more about underfloor heating, then you have to check out the Underfloor Heating Blog. It has a great underfloor heating guide, providing tons of useful information.