Radiant Floor Heat Offers Tippytoe Comfort
Your spouse got up in the middle of the night and now those cold toes are invading your territory with the tenacity of a heat-seeking missile. Lucky for you, the new house will have radiant floor heating – a sure cure for encounters with icy feet at 2 a.m. or a midwinter chill that reaches your bone marrow.
Under-floor heating has been around since the Roman Empire when it was in its heyday in public buildings and the villas of the wealthy. Hot air was circulated under tile or brick, providing a radiant heat – energy that transferred warmth through the flooring and on to colder objects like Roman reclining chairs, statues, marble-topped desks and chilly centurions.
With the advent of PEX flexible piping in the United States in the 1980s, application has skyrocketed as new products have been developed for the construction industry – among which have been hydronic systems to supply radiant floor heat. Unlike forced-air furnaces, modern hydronic floor systems using PEX products provide more uniform warmth to a room, are less drying, more efficient and a whole lot quieter than old furnaces or metal steam pipes.
PEX tubing is made of cross-linked polyethylene, which gives these space-age pipes durability, chemical resistance, high mobility, a cost-effective installation profile and greater temperature adaptability. This polyethylene tubing can be exposed to water as hot as 200° Fahrenheit in heating systems.
There are different modes of installing radiant floor heat. Some use electric line voltage systems, but easy-to-use PEX hosing products have made hydronic under-floor heating popular with both home builders and home owners. Because the tubing is so flexible, its coils can be used in a continuous length, eliminating the need for multiple joints and fittings.
Some radiant floor heat systems use oxygen-barrier PEX radiant tubing utilized in gypsum concrete. Others incorporate low-mass underlayment – wood panels with recessed niches for flexible piping.
Each remodeling or new-construction project is better suited by one method or another, so investigate your hydronic floor heating options fully. Do your homework!
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