Installing radiant floor heating in existing homes begins with aluminum tracks being screwed between the joists, which hold PEX (cross-linked polyethylene) tubing carrying hot water. It can go under most existing flooring, including wood, tile, vinyl, and even carpet. In most houses, the only place to do this is on a first floor where joist bays are open to the space below. The best way to retrofit radiant floor heating without disturbing an existing floor is to do it from below, against the underside of the subfloor. A single length of tubing will loop under each first-floor room | Photo by Russell Kaye Whether you’re building a new home or business, or remodeling your present one, isn’t comfort one of the most important qualities you desire? Radiant heating has always been the most comfortable, energy-efficient choice for heating any area, and is the only heating method that can actually improve your life.Richard feeds the PEX tubing to heating contractor John Perry, who pushes it along a joist bay. Any kind of finished flooring, including hardwood, vinyl, or carpeting, can be installed on top of it. The tubing can be installed in several ways: embedded in a concrete slab, installed over an existing slab in gypcrete, stapled underneath the subflooring, or fitted inside the channels of specially designed subfloor panels. A propylene glycol or water solution is heated to between 90 and 150 degrees Fahrenheit by a boiler and circulated through tubing in the floors. Hydronic systems are usually designed to heat an entire house, building, or outdoor space. It can also be installed under laminate and other floating floors, such as engineered hardwood. Infloor radiant heating systems eliminate that cold chill, producing high satisfaction. While stunningly beautiful, these flooring types are also cold to the touch. Ceramic and stone tile are popular floor covering choices. These projects can be new construction, remodel, small additions, retro-fit, industrial, snowmelt, and outdoor warming applications available in hydronic and electric cable radiant heating systems.Įlectric cable systems provide heat through cables installed over the subfloor in a bed of thin-set mortar. The systems depend largely on radiant heat transfer the delivery of heat directly from a warm surface to the people and objects around it.Īny residential, commercial, or industrial building can take advantage of all the benefits radiant floor heating has to offer. The result is a more even overall heat that warms everything in the room, including surfaces, furnishings, and, most importantly, you. Under-floor (or Infloor) heating serves up heat from below. Your face feels warm, but the sun didn’t need to heat the air outside to make you feel that way. It is similar to the heat you feel when you stand by a window on a sunny, cold day. Heating by radiant energy is observed every day the warmth of the sunshine being the most common example. Under-floor radiant heating also has a long history throughout Asia. It can be traced back to the Romans who used a hypocaust, which was a system that heated homes with hot air under the floors. The concept of “radiant floor heating” or under-floor heating has been used for centuries.
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