Hydronic radiant floor heating is the best option for whole house or building heating. It is achieved by heating water and pumping it through tubing embedded in or attached to the underside of the floor. The water is heated by a high efficiency gas boiler, solar thermal system or ground source geothermal heat pump system.
Hydronic radiant floor heating uses water as the heat transfer medium to give the most efficient method of heat transfer in a building available. The Radiant Panel Association claims radiant systems are 20% – 50% more efficient than forced air type systems. In home and buildings with high ceilings and clear stories the efficiencies increase. Radiant systems can aid in LEED certification.
A radiant home or building is a healthy home or building. With no dust, allergens or pollutants blowing around a radiant system is healthy and completely silent.
Radiant systems are more design friendly. With no ductwork, soffits or registers to consider, radiant systems give total architectural and interior design flexibility.
Radiant’s unsurpassed comfort is due to the location of the heat source and the method of heat transfer. With the floor as the heating surface the person feels slightly warm on the feet and neutral on the body with no drafts or fan noise. Radiant heat transfer heats the objects in the room including the furniture and the person, not the air. This allows for a heating curve near the theoretical ideal and not a hot ceiling and a cold floor.
In smaller applications, such as a kitchen or bathroom where the cost of a mechanical system may not be justified to heat a small space, electric radiant floor heating may be the best option. They run on 120 or 240 volts and although less efficient to operate, the lower installation cost can make more economic sense.
Most radiant systems can also integrate the domestic hot water heating into the system. The water is efficiently heated with the same boiler, solar thermal system or ground source geothermal heat pump.
Adroit Solar can design and install a complete hot water and space heating system for your project using any of the possible heat sources.