Heating and cooling your home
Radiant heating
Convection, conduction, and radiation are the three ways in which heat is transferred, and this article will deal with radiant heat, in which people and objects in a room are warmed by a separate heating source and not by the air surrounding them. Radiant floor heating systems employ one of three methods to heat the floors of a house, hot air, electricity, or hot water which then heats the objects and the people in the room. Because air is an ineffective medium for retaining heat, it is hardly ever used anymore and is considered obsolete. Radiant heating systems which employ electric cables, are in high demand and are easy to install beneath such flooring materials as tile, stone, hardwood, or laminated wood. Hydronic heating systems utilize an array of tubes installed beneath the flooring and through which hot water gets pumped, a process which heats the floor and keeps the people and objects in the room warm. With the proper hydronic system you can control the temperature for each room by adjusting the amount of hot water that flows through the tubing loops underneath each room’s floor. The easiest radiant heating systems to put in are sandwiched in plywood sheets in between the flooring and a sub-floor (called “dry installation”), while the most cost-effective systems are installed in slabs of concrete (called “wet installation”), as concrete is a better heat medium. While you can use almost any type of flooring with radiant heat systems, the most energy-efficient flooring is ceramic tiles, while the least energy-efficient is carpeting laid over non-laminated solid wood.
Radiant floor heating systems
Nowadays, radiant heat can be the most cost-effective, dependable, eco-friendly, and comfortable way to maintain the temperature in your home, and systems using infrared heat are very popular. The idea behind radiant heating systems is to first heat the ceilings, floors and walls of the home which in turn heat the items in a room, and eventually radiates out to heat the air. This is in contrast to conventional forced-air heating systems during which hot air is pushed into an area where it heats the ceiling while the floor remains colder. Depending on your needs you can choose either liquid or electric radiant heating systems. Hot liquid systems push heated water or oil through a series of pipes, while electric systems involve a series of cables which are the source of heat. Also known as hydronic heating, liquid radiant heating is a system that has pipes laid out between plywood sheets or over a concrete floor. Nowadays, hot air based radiant systems are outdated (the Romans had them) and rarely used since air in itself cannot hold large quantities of heat.
Here are a few internet sites that may be informative when exploring the topic of home heating, cooling and insulation. Follow this link to find out about electric radiant flooring. The following link will also lead you to a site relating to gas furnaces. One will also find other articles available concerning heating with radiators at Home Heating With Radiators.
Related posts:
Posted in Home Improvement