| Radian heat has become very popular in today's | | | | loops is again run to another manifold which allows |
| new home construction in cold climates. Once | | | | warm water to be pumped through the tubes |
| again I'm going to share some of my experience | | | | thus warming the floor and causing it to "radiate" |
| with my own house and others that we have | | | | heat to the floor above. |
| recently built for customers. Radiant heat offers | | | | In my new house we even ran tubing to the |
| both energy savings along with comforts for | | | | second floor for each of the bathrooms so we |
| home owners. | | | | have nice warm tile to stand on. Radiant works |
| There are many different types of radiant heat | | | | well with concrete slabs, tile floors and engineered |
| systems on the market today but I will only | | | | wood floors. You should check with the |
| discuss one of them that I'm quite familiar with. | | | | manufacturer of any flooring material prior to |
| The new homes that we build with radiant heat | | | | installation to make sure it is compatible with |
| utilize one of three boiler types; high efficiency | | | | radiant heat. |
| gas boiler by Weil McLain, direct vent oil boiler by | | | | Radiant heat produces a much more even |
| Buderus, or a high efficiency gas on demand boiler | | | | temperature and an incredible warm feeling on |
| by Rinnai. Each of these boiler systems provide a | | | | your feet. By producing the steady even |
| high efficiency option for our customers | | | | temperature the system actually will use less |
| depending on their choice of fuel and preferences. | | | | energy trying to overcome the up and down |
| The system is quite simple, the basement slabs | | | | swings of a traditional heating system. Many |
| have PEX tubing looped throughout the slab and | | | | statistics suggest that radiant heat can be as |
| tied to the reinforcing steel. Each loop runs back | | | | much as 20% cheaper to run than traditional heat |
| to a manifold and hot water from the boiler is | | | | systems. On average my experience has shown |
| pumped through the tubing to heat up the slab | | | | that the radiant heat system will cost |
| and "radiate" throughout the space. The main floor | | | | approximately 20% to 30% more to purchase |
| of the house is heated by running rubber or PEX | | | | and install. However, the comfort alone is well |
| tubing between the joists and stapled to the | | | | worth the price and over time it should easily pay |
| bottom side of the floor sheathing. Each of these | | | | for itself. |