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Posts Tagged ‘Heating’
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15 August 2011
Radiant Floor Heating
Radiant hydronic floor heat is a heating system that runs hot water through tubing that is embedded in an earthen floor or a poured concrete floor. The heat from a hydronic floor radiates up into the furniture and the feet of the occupants, so the room feels comfortable even at lower operating temperatures. This photo shows a coloured concrete floor being poured.
In the book “Prescriptions For A Healthy House”, Paula Baker-Laporte, Erica Elliott, and John Banta recommend not using copper tubing, as was previously common, because it can conduct electromagnetic fields through the structure if it becomes charged anywhere along its route. Instead they list two types of odorless polyethylene tubing for use with hydronic floor heating systems.
And combining hydronic heat with passive solar orientation makes the heating system for a house even more efficient, as the thermal mass in the earthen floor or concrete floor holds and re-radiates the heat over a longer period of time.
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12 August 2011
Radiant Floor Heat Tubing
Savings on utility bills and better indoor air quality are just two of the benefits of radiant floor heat systems. The heat from a radiant floor creates warmth that “radiates” into everything it touches – including furniture and your feet – making everything feel warm and cozy.
The radiant heat tubing for this project was laid 9″ apart, which will accommodate several heat source systems, including a heat pump for geo thermal or a boiler (electric or gas). You can also use the water jacket on a wood stove to heat the water in the tubing. The other advantage to having the tubing a little closer together is that there are no pronounced hot or cold spots in the floor.
One thing to consider is that where the tubing enters the floor directly from the heat source, the floor there will be a bit hotter, so it’s best to plan this for an area that you would want hot anyway, such as a living area or bathroom. Don’t have these tubes enter the floor near a cold storage area or pantry that you want to stay quite cool.
