The Low Down On Green Living
March 5th, 2008
Radiant Heating: Is It For You?
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A new trend that is “radiating” around green homes right now is using a radiant heating system rather than conventional forced air systems. Speaking from experience, since I am currently installing radiant heating in my own home, I hope to arm you with some additional insight into this type of system.
The Benefits of Radiant Heat Systems
The intent of a radiant heating system is for heat to radiate upward from the floor surface which acts like an ultra-efficient low level radiator. Rather than forcing air to come out of a single vent in the ceiling, wall or floor, the radiant system creates an even flow of warm air that starts from the floor and naturally rises to heat an entire house. The heat usually comes from tubes filled with warm water that are embedded into a concrete or plywood sub-floor. There are also electric coil systems that can be used in smaller areas or exterior surfaces. Keeping such a large surface like the floor at an even level of heat will warm other objects and people in a room rather than directly heating the air. In a well insulated home, the heating temperature can be kept lower with a radiant heat system, and this results in lower energy use and costs.
Radiant heating can also improve your indoor air quality. If you don’t properly maintain a conventional forced air sytem (which entails cleaning the air ducts every year and changing all the air filters) you could be blowing allergens and even toxins around your home. Radiant heating systems have no filters to change and will never run the risk of polluting the air. One more added bonus is the silence of a radiant system, no fans blowing, sideboards creaking, or water gurgling.
There is no question that radiant heating is warm and cozy, but does it make sense for all green homes?
The upfront costs of installing a radiant system are more expensive than a conventional heating system and may not produce as high a return on the initial investment. If you live in an older home in a colder climate, and in an older energy-inefficient home, radiant heat can be a very worthwhile investment. It would particularly make sense if you are planning any floor replacement work already.
However, if you have a fairly green home already (or are building one), it is likely already designed for energy efficiency (e.g., you probably have good insulation and an energy-efficient furnace). These homes often utilize passive solar strategies combined with good insulation to control thermal comfort. A radiant system might be overkill and potentially provide too much heat for some well designed green homes. For example, if you live in a warmer climate, it may cost $10,000 to install a radiant system to offset $100 worth of heat per year. This may make sense if you like being able to walk on the bare floors all year round, but it should be something to think about when it comes to prioritizing the green attributes for your home.
Another thing to think about is the flooring that will rest on top of the radiant heat system. BE SURE to check with the warranty of your finished flooring manufacturer or installer to avoid any potential problems. There are some wood manufacturers that will not warranty a floor if it is put over a radiant system.
How Can I Get a Radiant Heating System?
There are a variety of methods and manufacturers of radiant heating systems. If you are building a new home, you can work with your contractor and plumber to install a radiant system right into a new foundation. Companies like the Radiant Floor Company will map out and design a system that works with the heating zones within your home.
If you are renovating and keeping the existing floors, there are products like Uponor’s Quik Trak, WarmBoard, or GCS Radiant that will go over virtually any material and create a great subfloor for your finished flooring material.
For those of you in cold climates, it is not too late to install a radiant floor and still enjoy it for the rest of the season. If you are in a warmer area, you may want to do a little more research. As with any green decision for your home, it should be dependent on your own green goals. Help us radiate the word on radiant systems and let us know of your experiences.
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Comments
Mark
March 11th, 2008 at 9:12 am
I am curious what thoughts, observations or advice you might have for somebody like me who lives in the Toronto area (Ontario, Canada) where it can be quite cold and dry in the winter and quite hot and humid in the summer. Specifically, as we work towards building a new home, our contractor has raised concerns about the effectiveness of cooling the house through running a radiant heating system in reverse (which I have seen suggested in a couple places), and more importantly we have concerns about how to manage humidity levels in the house.
Thanks,
Mark
Mark
March 11th, 2008 at 9:14 am
I would also follow-up by asking if it’s feasible to consider a home that is heated and cooled strictly using radiant systems and going entirely without ductwork?
Thanks again,
Mark
Steve
March 11th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
We are renovating an old building that has floor joists 16″ OC, 1″ wood decking, and a terazzo floor(concrete and marble, about 3/4″ thick). Does anyone know if radiant heat installed under the wood decking(between the joists) would be effective?
Art Ross
March 12th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Mark…..we do not cool with radiant heating systems….it is not an effective way to cool your home….with joist installations there is way too much condensation …in slabs you may have some cool stripes on the floor…but it will not cool your home..
Art Ross
March 12th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Steve…..you should not have a problem installing under your floor system….it may take a little longer initially to realize heat, but the floor will act as a thermal mass after it heats up and will be toasty with the correct amount of PEX and reflective material
Jay
March 14th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
we supply and recommend many clients and companies with radiant heating solutions and they love it. It is a great solution to heating homes.
Karen
March 19th, 2008 at 11:53 am
We recently built a home in Fl. and installed our own radiant heating system as our slab was poured. We researched several suppliers of the tubing, manifolds and control valves and went with a company that furnished lots of online and over the phone support. We are very pleased with our system and have yet to turn on any secondary heating in our home. Our costs ran less than $6000.00, a little over half went into purchasing the system and the rest went to the misc. costs of installation and also for extra insulation under the tubing in the slab. The electric cost has shown a savings. It is a zoned system, with the main living areas having priority for heating during the peak usage hours. Thus we have the lesser used areas / zones set at a lower temp. WE LOVE IT!!
Karen
March 19th, 2008 at 11:55 am
PS: I forgot to mention, our Sq. footage is 3100 heated & cooled.
James
August 22nd, 2008 at 9:15 pm
I love these floors! I lived for 8 years in Germany and I can say, this type of floor is common there. I loved the cool tile floor in the summertime and the warm radiant feel in the wintertime. It’s great to see them catching on in the states - finally! Cheers!
Elaine
September 9th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
I want to buy and renovate a 23 year old home that has a radiant in floor hydronic system. House is on a concrete slab, single storey. Records show no problem with the system which is copper tubing.
There is no map for the tubing…no record of the installer. Any advice as to how I could map the tubing…red flags re to renovations…suggestions as to what expertise I should seek?
Thanks
Cari
February 17th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
The best bet for mapping the old system is to use a thermal imaging camera. Check with your HVAC installer to see if they have the capability. If not, check with the local university’s biology, geology, and forensic science departments for help. I’ve used this technique several times in commercial building structures when the system needed to be mapped before any drainage could be cut into the floor.
Mark in Indy
February 21st, 2009 at 11:19 am
I’ve been looking at these systems for years - actually installed a couple back in the ’80’s tied to geothermal/solar. We used copper as it wad what was known then. We snaked soft copper around in the slab floors and then converted emptied & refinished electric baseboard to radiant using 1″ copper, rumpled aluminum foil “fins” & small circulating fans. We designed it to be run backwards in the summer (South-central Indiana) for cooling. I kept up with owners for a couple years, they supplimented with a bit of wood, but no known problems summer or winter! Now, the cooling was NOT any more than groundwater temperature, so that may have a bit to do with it. We also had high cathedral ceilings with a temp-operated cupola at the peak. It was a log cabin, by the way, most walls were left raw.
Anyhow, to make a long story short, I’m planning to build later this year and am designing a similar system but using PEX and probably going with a “capillary” system as I want the tubing to be right under the floor covering, not the subfloor. I’m also considering ceiling or wall installation in bigger rooms, too. My problem being that I’ve only found one supplier of the capillary supplies and they’re German made, so pretty expensive.
ANybody with any further information or experience?
Thanks!
ANybo
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