Let's Cover The Kinds Of Radiant Floor Heating Products

Principally we have three types of radiant Floor Heating systems: electric radiant Floor systems; hot water or hydronics radiant Floor systems, and radiant air Floor systems (the heat is carried by an air medium);. All these three types can be broken into smaller groups by the method of installation: those which make use of the large thermal mass of a concrete slab Floor or gypcrete concrete over a wooden subFloor (these are called "wet installations"); and the ones wherein the installer positions the radiant Floor tubing in between layers of plywood or attaches the tubing under the finished Floor or subFloor ("dry installations").

For the purpose of this information we're going to concentrate on the hot water or hydronic radiant Floor Heating system.

Hydronic Radiant Floors

Hydronic (liquid) techniques are often the most desired and cost-effective radiant Heating systems for areas with extended Heating seasons. Hydronic radiant Floor systems push heated water originating from a boiler through tubing laid within a pattern below the Floor. In many systems, the temperature in each room is managed by controlling the flow of hot water through each tubing loop. This can be done by a system of zoning valves or pumps and thermostats. The expense of installing a hydronic radiant Floor varies by location and moreover is dependent upon the size of your home, the sort of installation, the Floor covering, remoteness around the site, as well as the cost of labor.

So-called "wet" installations embed the cables or tubing in a solid Floor and are also the oldest kind of modern radiant Floor systems. The tubing or cable could be set in a thick concrete foundation slab in most cases associated with slab style homes devoid of basement or basement and garage Floors or perhaps in a thin layer of concrete, gypcrete, or another material placed on top of a subFloor. If concrete is used and the new Floor is not on solid earth, additional Floor support might be necessary because of the added weight. This is a strong recommendation that you ought to consult an experienced engineer to establish the Floor's carrying capacity.

Thick concrete slab systems have high heat capacity and are ideal for storing heat from solar energy systems, that have a fluctuating heat output as well as geothermal Heating sources or on demand tankless boilers. The downside in the thick slabs is their slow thermal response time, that makes strategies just like night or daytime setbacks difficult if not impossible. Most experts recommend maintaining a constant temperature in homes with these Heating systems.
Attributable to recent innovations in Floor technology, so-called "dry" Floors, wherein the cables or tubing run inside an air space under the Floor, are actually gaining in popularity, since a dry Floor is faster and less expensive to set up. Don't forget that because dry Floors involve Heating an air space, the radiant Heating system has to operate within a higher temperature.

Some dry installations involve suspending the tubing or cables below the subFloor between your joists. This process usually requires drilling across the Floor joists as a way to install the tubing. Reflective insulation must also be installed under the tubes to direct the heat upward. Tubing or cables can also be installed from above the Floor, between two layers of subFloor. In these instances, liquid tubing is often fitted into aluminum diffusers that spread the water's heat throughout the Floor in an effort to heat the Floor more evenly. The tubing as well as heat diffusers are secured between furring strips (sleepers), which carry the load of the new subFloor and finished Floor surface.

At least one company Warmboard has improved using this idea by developing a plywood subFloor material manufactured with tubing grooves and aluminum heat diffuser plates that are part of them. The maker claims that this product provides an impressive radiant Floor system for new construction or remodeling projects considerably less expensive to install and faster to respond to room temperature changes. The Warmboard Products also enable the usage of half as much tubing because the heat transfer of the Floor is greatly improved over more traditional dry or wet Floors. You can learn more by visiting my website where I have installation videos on Warmboard and all other types of PEX radiant Floor Heating systems.

Watch my installation videos on Warmboard Radiant Floor or read detailed information on PEX Radiant Heat or PEX Installation Basics here!

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