The in-floor heating is quickly becoming popular with the home owners. Previously, it was only the luxurious hotels that used to enjoy this facility, but currently, with the reduced cost of installation of radiant floors and more power saving technology, these are becoming a preferred choice for many homes. In-floor heating has certain benefits over the other room heating systems and if you actually want to fight the winter in the best way, in-floor heating can be the most ideal solution. In floor heating ensures that the heat is spread equally across the room through the natural process of heat transfer. Here the heat comes out from the floor, which not only warms up the cold floors but also heats up the air of the room considerably, ensuring that the floor can retain the heat for long. The most common types of in-floor heating solutions that are being used today include,
Electric radiant floors
The electric radiant floor is made by installing electrical wearing within the floor or by laying electrically conductive plastic mounted mats on the subfloor under the original floor. Here the electricity is sent to the wires or to the mats for heating and the mess like wearing heats up the floor first and then slowly the air of the room. Electric radiant floor can be an effective way to warm up your rooms during winter but the problem with this type of in-floor heating is that here electricity is used in high quantity for heating up the floor continuously. If your electricity supplier provides a low rate according to the time-of-use, then you can certainly opt for keeping these heating solutions on during the off hours, when the electricity has a low rate. The floors with high thermal mass can retain the heat for 8 to 10 hours even on the colder days and hence heating it twice a day can mean a whole day of comfortable atmosphere within the room.
The other best thing about these heating floors is that they are fully insulated and you actually need not to worry about the problem of electric shock. Installing and repairing these systems is also easy and less expensive.
Hydronic radiant floors
Hydronic radiant floors use hot water instead of electricity to warm up the floor and the room. Here thorough tubing is laid within the subfloor in a particular pattern and heated water from a boiler is pumped into these tubing. Electricity is used only for heating the water one time and as water is able to hold the heat for long hydronic radiant floors is truly energy saving. In this case much less amount of electricity is used for heating the floor and hence they are more cost effective. The flow of hot water through the tubing is often regulated through zoning valves, pumps and the overall heat of the room is regulated through thermostat. The con of this type of in-floor heating is that, laying hydronic radiant floors is more complicated than laying the electrical heating systems and as in this case water is used for heating through the tubing loops there is always the risk of leakage.
So, if you are considering about installing in-floor heating systems in your home it is important that you consider the pros and cons of both the types and then decide according to your own priorities. It is also suggested to discuss with a professional of the line on this matter before you take the final decision, because often a many factors like the remoteness of the place, the floor covering, the size of the room affects the total expenses and suitability of a particular type of in-floor heating.
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