These floor heating systems are controlled using specially designed thermostats known as heated floor thermostats. Two types of systems are available for setting up “underfloor heating” – Electric based or Water-based (known as hydronic radiant heating). The solution here is “underfloor heating” – where a heating system is installed under the floor to maintain proper temperature during winters. You’ll feel cold feet in such situations! They keep your room interiors warm but they fail to heat the floors to the desired temperature. HVAC systems (like furnace or heat pumps) are designed to heat air and circulate hot air throughout the interiors. “Underfloor heating” or “floor heating” is often referred to as “radiant heating” commonly in the USA, and floor heating systems are installed to heat the floors to optimum temperature during the winter season.Įven though most homes in the United States employ central furnace based heating or heat pumps, the energy from these HVAC systems does not heat the floors properly. Before diving into different thermostat models, let’s dig a little more about underfloor heating and the systems used. Read more on sub-slab insulation here.In this article, we write about underfloor heating thermostats or radiant heat thermostats or heated floor thermostats, which are thermostats designed to control floor heating systems. Don’t go with the base requirements of Building Code, we would recommend at least 6 inches below a heated slab in most parts of Canada, and even more in the colder regions. One final thought we would share – be careful not to get talked into installing an insufficient amount of insulation below the slab. Radiant heat is a very comfortable heat, so as you choose the more affordable fuel source and the system is properly designed to heat the space and the install cost is affordable, you will probably be happy with the results. Heated floors can be done with electric wires, hydronic tubes, but there is also one company that installs air-heated tubes in slab on grade foundations, powered either by electricity or gas. If you are planning on doing it yourself, watch some DIY videos and see which you find to be easier, here is our video of a hydronic tube installation, it is really quite easy but gets a little more complicated hooking up a manifold and boiler. An Ontario resident installing a radiant floor would probably choose hydronic with a gas boiler.Īs for install cost, you may find electric wire systems to be a bit cheaper, but get a quote for each to be sure. Quebec electricity rates are among the lowest, while Ontario rates are among the highest, for that reason very few people are currently installing electric heat sources in Ontario, but it is the most common heat source in Quebec. Keep in mind that a boiler for a hydronic floor can be powered by either electricity or gas, so any difference in operational cost would be determined by your local gas and electricity rates. Any form of electric resistance heat generation (heated floors, furnaces, hair dryers, kettles, baseboard heaters etc.) would cost the same on a ‘BTU per watt’ scale. Good question, but a tough one, so I’ll start with the easy part first - When powered by electricity there would be virtually no difference in operational cost between those two systems.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |