Radiant Floor Heating

Planning and building a new home certainly has its share of ups and downs. While it's a thrill to choose the architectural style, the materials, and the floor plan, it also requires lots and lots of research. And these days, owning a home represents the most massive investment most of us will ever make. So it makes sense to plan for a home that's not only beautiful and comfortable, but also energy-efficient and affordable to build as well.

My latest "assignment" has been to check into all the different HVAC (that's the fancy acronym for keeping your house warm, cool and well-ventilated) systems that are available. Because we live in a fairly cold climate, I'm admittedly spending a bit more time on the heat portion of the equation! My builder recommended radiant floor heating, which I knew nothing about, so I decided to see what I could learn on the Internet.

Radiant floor heating is a fairly brilliant concept, even if it is something not many of us are familiar with. If you're like me, you grew up in a house with either a radiator (remember the late-night sound of pipes clanging?) or a "forced-air" system, fueled by a gas furnace or an electric heat pump. While both systems get the job done, neither is particularly well known for quiet efficiency.

The house we're living in now is a perfect example of the downside of hot air blowing through vents. We have cold spots (those areas of the house farthest from the vents) and warm spots (right next to the thermostat!), not to mention the lovely masses of dog hair and who knows what other spooky, allergen-laden dust that somehow is able to bypass the furnace filter and waft freely throughout the house. And the furnace cycles on and off all the time, which I know can't be good for the utility bill.

Radiant floor heating approaches warming your house in a whole different way. It's made up of either hot water pipes or electrical wires that are just beneath the floors. These pipes or wires slowly and evenly warm your hardwood or tile, which then serves to heat the room. The heat is constant because it starts low and rises slowly to the ceiling, so you don't have one part of a room that's more comfortable than another.

Apparently, hot water (also called hydronic) radiant floor heating systems are the more popular of the two types available. And contrary to what we thought before we checked it out, radiant floor heating represents a significant savings on utility costs over traditional forced-air units. This type of heat is more expensive to install, but the long-term savings make that initial investment worthwhile. Now that we've learned about the benefits of radiant floor heating systems, it's definitely the way we're going to go to heat our new home.

You have read the best review article categorized by best tips and the title Radiant Floor Heating. You can bookmark or spread this post by using this URL https://besttipsto.blogspot.com/2012/04/radiant-floor-heating.html. Thank You!