Concrete Floor Heating Systems

2008-12-23 11:02:10

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The Conventional Forced Air Heating System

Imagine yourself getting out of bed on a winter morning and going into a bathroom with an icy cold concrete or tile floor. Even with your forced air heating system full blast, you would still feel the coldness of the bathroom floor and the walls, because forced air systems do not heat the area evenly. The heat from this system will not always reach the small nooks and corners of your room, so there will be drafty areas in the room.

Morever, forced air heating systems tend to suck in dirt, allergens and microbes along with air, so you get exposed to such unwanted substances. You need to clean and maintain the air ducts in order to get the system to work very efficiently. And since the forced air furnace is powered by gas, you also need to check it regularly to make sure there are no dangerous leaks that could cause fumes or fire.

What Radiant Floor Heating Systems Can Do

Unlike forced air systems, radiant heating systems do not need air from the exterior environment to enter your home and heat it up. There are no ducts that can fill up with dust and dirt to pollute indoor air.

Instead, radiant floor heating systems use a combination of water and electric power to heat up pipes under your floors. The system not only heats the floor but also objects directly in touch with it, so that the whole area is heated evenly with no annoying drafts.

Costs of maintaining and using radiant floor heating systems are less than that of forced air heating systems.

Installing a Radiant Heating System Under Concrete Floors

Even if you have a concrete floor, you can still have a radiant floor heating system installed. There is no need to re-excavate your existing concrete floor just to install the pipes.

Instead, paper-thin mats with an existing floor heating system can be retrofitted right on top of your concrete floor. Then a thin overlay of concrete or gypsum can be placed right over the mat. The overlay will not significantly raise the level of your floor.

These concrete floor heating systems come in rolls resembling carpets, so they can be cut into the right sizes to fit the area. In fact, you can also install them in smaller areas such as storage rooms or attics.

Be sure to consult a concrete contractor before installing a radiant heating system onto your concrete floor.


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