Heating and cooling your home
Radiant home heating
Of the three ways that heat is transferred, radiation, convection, and conduction, this article describes radiant heating, where people and objects are warmed by a separate source of heat, and not by warm air currents. There are three varieties of radiant heat floor systems, ones that utilize hot air, ones that use electricity, and ones that use hot water, which are also known as hydronic systems. Because air is an inefficient medium for holding on to heat, it is hardly ever used nowadays and is considered obsolete. One of the more in-demand heating technologies will be electric radiant floor heating, where you install a network of thin electric cables under flooring such as tile, stone, hardwood, or laminated wood. The most in-demand method of radiant heat generation is hydronics, which involves the steady pumping of hot water from a boiler through a network of tubes installed under the flooring. With the right hydronic system you can regulate the temperature in each room by adjusting the amount of hot water that flows through the tubing loops under each room’s floor. Both electric and hydronic radiant heating systems utilize one of two installation methods, either “dry” installation,in which the electric cables or water tubing are put between plywood sheets under the floor, or “wet” installations which embed the tubing or cables in concrete. Ceramic tiles are the best flooring products to use with radiant floor heating, and non-laminated, solid wood floors covered by carpeting will be the least effective.
Radiant home heating
Using water to create radiant heat is a technology that has been in vogue since the widespread use of hot water radiators in the 1940’s, but employing water for cooling is a more recent development. Radiant heating occurs when a hot surface transmits heat directly to an object or person in the same room or area, and hydronic radiant heating utilizes steam or hot water as the heat source. When a surface is cooled down in a radiant cooling system, it takes in the heat from the surrounding area, specifically the body heat generated by the people in the room. Through an array of pipes installed in the walls, floor, or ceiling, both hydronic radiant cooling and heating systems pump water to cool or heat those surfaces, and then the objects or people in the room. The fact that heat will naturally rise tells us why hydronic radiant heating systems are more effective when installed in the floor, and conversely, radiant cooling systems function better when placed in the ceiling to absorb the rising heat. Radiant cooling systems are more difficult to set up than radiant heating systems, as you have to handle the humidity and the need to supply ventilation and fresh air. Conventional heating and cooling systems, which pump cold or hot air into the room through ducts, are not as energy efficient as radiant systems, which will cool or warm you directly. Don’t think twice about calling in an HVAC contractor for installation of a hydronic radiant system, as the work is probably too difficult to be a home do-it-yourself project.
If the preceding articles were helpful, you will also get more recommendations concerning home heating, cooling and insulation on these listed websites. For example, if you have an interest in electric radiant floors, then Electric Radiant Flooring will have plenty of helpful advice. Another resource is Gas Furnace Care which has posted recommendations concerning gas furnaces. Also, there is advice available for home heating at Home Heating With Radiators.
Related posts: