Don't Be Intimidated by Radiant Heating

Sure, anything new can be intimidating, but if you are considering radiant floor heating for your own home, there's no reason to be freaked out by such a weighty decision. In fact, if you knew all the wonderful facts about radiant floor heating you would be rushing out to get it installed today and wondering why you waited so long.

Radiant floor heating is a simple and affordable way to improve your existing home heating, supplement a current furnace or fireplace, or just heat from the ground up your entire new home. Whether you are living in a home that already has the heating system in place or you are beginning the journey of home construction you can benefit from the warmth and comfort radiant heating has to offer.

Radiant heating is not a new product or trend but it if one that is picking up momentum. Helping push it along the popular track of home improvements are the recent studies showing how energy efficient radiant floor heating can be and how radiant floor heating systems can actually save you money in the long run. This sounds not only good, but great to a lot of penny-pinching consumers as we all face economic hardships. Saving money is what we're all interested in these days and finding a home heating system that can aid in our savings is rare and precious. There is no need to be intimidated by radiant heating. We are here to help walk you through the decisions you'll need to make from how much radiant heat cable to buy, to how to install it, to how to operate it once it's in place.

Staying Warm and Comfortable when it's Cold Outside

We are still in the middle of winter and it just plain looks cold outside. Every time you step outside you feel a chill to the bone. The perfect indoor remedy for this is a toasty, radiant heated floor. Underfloor heat is just what you need to get back up to speed when you have been out in the cold. It’s hard not to purr when thinking about it.

Electric radiant floor heat is quite easy to install and it’s a shame homes don't come “standard” with warm floors. I suspect heated floors will be much more common in the years to come. Radiant floor heating utilizes a cable mesh system (such as the Danfoss LX mat or Ideal Heat's Warm Ribbon) laid out on the subfloor. Your finish flooring is then applied over the heat cable. The result is instant-favorite-room syndrome, guaranteed. The comfort of warm floors is unmatched. When your feet are warm, you feel warm all over.

It’s also more likely to be an efficient heat source, as you just need to heat the lower portion of the room where you hang out. (Forced air systems stir up dust and tend to heat the top half of the room.) If you have tall ceilings, warmth emanating from the floor will be even more noticeable – and enjoyable. You don't end up wasting all that heat way up near the ceiling where only the spiders can enjoy it.

If you haven’t experienced radiant floor heating systems, do yourself a big favor and check it out. If not for this winter you can get one in plenty of time to enjoy it next year, and even year 'round. One thing is certain, the weather will be cold again next winter, so why not be prepared by installing a radiant heated floor system?

When most of us think about our home heating system, we think of a complicated maze of air ducts, furnaces and vents. The installation of a central heating system is well beyond the expertise of the average home owner, but what about a radiant heating system? Advances in radiant technology have come a long way since radiant underfloor heating was first introduced to North America, and electric radiant systems are environmentally friendly because they run more efficiently than the average gas furnace and run independent of harmful fossil fuels. On top of all that – radiant heat provides unparalleled comfort and even heating that forced air system only dream of providing.

A common misconception about radiant heating is that it can only go beneath hard surfaces such as tile. While tile IS a great option coupled with radiant heat, it’s not the only option! Danfoss and Ideal Heat together provide a radiant solution for just about any kind of flooring you can think of. The best part? You can install it yourself! If you want to start small with a bathroom, electric radiant heating systems make it easy to heat small areas by room without affecting the rest of the home. The only problem – once you start with one room, you’ll want radiant heat for the whole house!