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The desire for comfort is a basic human wish and nothing
delivers comfort better than radiant floor heating.
Imagine your body surrounded by a cozy warmth that radiates
up from the floor. Radiant floors heat your body and
objects in the room, not the air. The warmth stays down
near the floor where it is needed most. It's not wasted
at the ceiling or lost to the outdoors whenever a door
or window is opened.
With proper design and insulation, the benefits of
a radiant floor heating system are many. It's easy to
see why more and more people are choosing superior comfort
and efficiency for their homes and families.
It's simple. Floors become large, mild radiators resulting
in warm, friendly surfaces.
The systems circulate warm water through the flexible
yet durable tubing that can be installed underneath
virtually any type of flooring material -- wood, tile,
even carpet.
The lower water temperatures needed for a radiant floor
heating system mean lower thermostat settings which
saves on monthly heating bills.
In addition, zoning gives you room by room temperature
control allowing you to place the heat where you want
it. There are systems to meet every need and budget.
The human body has its own hydronic heating system.
Heat is distributed to the body through blood pumped
from the heart. The first priority of the body's heating
system is to maintain central body core temperature.
From there, blood is sent to the extremities. Since
the feet are the farthest from the central body core,
they are the last to get heat and the first to recognize
the discomfort of a cold environment.
Where the body's hydronic heat system fails, radiant
floor systems excel. A radiant floor applies direct
conductive heat to the feet (most of us have our feet
on the floor), and to objects in the room that in turn
re-radiate heat. Because a radiant floor directly addresses
the heat loss of the human body through conduction,
people are typically comfortable at a lower thermostat
setting -- around 65 ° F. This is another reason
why radiant floor is so energy efficient.
The common forced air systems heat air, not objects,
and warm air is often lost through the walls and ceiling.
Radiant floor heating heats the objects in the room,
so heat is not wasted. Hot air heating systems do not
distribute heat where the body needs it most, leaving
structures with drafts and high heat loss.
Installation is fast and easy. There are also products
that work well over other existing floors where radiant
heating is desired. These products are designed for
retrofitting existing homes or offices with radiant
heating while minimizing the amount of additional work
that is involved in a typical retrofit project.
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