[BlindHandyMan] Under Floor Heating
It's a simple fact-heat goes up. With that in mind, it seems the most effective heating system would be the floor. New products available today allow the floor to provide very efficient heat. And, don't think radiant floor heating is new. It is probably one of the oldest known methods of central heating. The Romans built a fire below the living space and the heat from the fire traveled through passages or channels under the floors. European kings and queens used a similar system during the "Dark Ages" to heat their castles. Hot water was one of the first "modern" radiant systems. As early as 1942 an American company started testing and experimenting with radiant heat for residential use. After WWII a number of huge housing developments used the technique. The metal pipes of the first units installed in hastily built concrete slabs of the time quickly degraded. And the copper, steel and wrought iron piping deteriorated over the years when placed in a concrete slab. Today's plastic technology has produced products that alleviate the problems of earlier radiant heating systems. The plastic cross-linking process produces tubing that is very strong at high temperatures and high pressures, and the flexibility of the plastic allows it to move with the natural movement and settling of a house without leaking or otherwise being compromised. Unlike hot water baseboard or forced air, a radiant floor heating system heats objects instead of just the air in the room. Because every building, no matter how well insulated, constantly looses heat to the outside, conventional heating systems work to replace this loss. Our bodies lose heat to the colder objects around us. We feel cold because of this heat loss. Because heat always flows toward cold, if you are standing next to an object that is colder than your body, that object will steal body heat. A radiant floor heating system does not heat the air directly like a baseboard or forced air system. Rather, a radiant system warms the floor, the chair, the sofa, the tables, and so forth, and this slows the rate at which your body looses heat to these objects. An overall even feeling of warmth and comfort is the result. Interestingly, the air temperature in the room can be considerably lower if your body is in a room full of warm objects. In fact, many people with radiant heat lower their thermostats to 65 degrees and still feel more comfortable than they did with their baseboard or forced air system set at 70 to 72 degrees. It's important to note that in a baseboard or forced air system, the warmest air is at the ceiling and the coolest air is at the floor. This, of course, is not efficient. A radiant system that produces warm feet and a cooler head is healthier and feels more comfortable. Radiant floor heating systems may be hydronic, circulating water through tubes embedded in the floor, or electric, utilizing electric heat cables beneath the floor covering. The latter is available only to specific floor coverings, while the hydronic is not. Most hydronic floor systems are divided into separate heating zones. (Image courtesy of Uponor Wirsbo) Hydronic Systems Hydronic systems, such as those from the Radiant Floor Company, use warm water to turn your floor into a large radiator that sends waves of radiant energy in all directions, warming everything in the room. The methods of heating the water are as varied as your imagination. Solar panels, oil and gas boilers, water heaters, wood boilers, geothermal and electric are all viable methods of heating water for a hydronic radiant floor system. The water is then sent through the tubing via a circulator pump. Additional materials such as manifolds, mixing valves, expansion tanks and thermostatic controls are designed into the system to fine tune the heat for optimum comfort. Before any radiant system is installed in your house, the contractor or the system supplier must perform a heat loss calculation. This is done by determining the amount of heat that your house will lose on the coldest day of the year in your location. This heat loss is expressed in terms of BTUs or British Thermal Units. The supplier or contractor then designs the system so that the heat output from the radiant floor exceeds heat loss from the house. This is done through a combination of tubing spacing and water temperature. High-tech, cross-linked polyethylene is used these days as the tubing for the hot water. In addition, manifolds and circulators are used to fine-tune the system and direct the water to the various zones. According to the folks at Radiant Floor Company, "Radiant floor heating is one of the fastest growing segments of the housing market, growing at a rate of 25 to 30 percent a year. In custom designed new homes it is by far the most utilized heat system. Even homeowners doing renovations are using radiant whenever possible. Of course, the one thing radiant can not do (at least with the current technology) is provide air condition
RE: [BlindHandyMan] Under Floor Heating
Heat doesn't raise - Hot air does! Heat is transmitted in three ways: 1> Conduction - migrating to its cooler neighbour 2> radiation - such as the sun's heat reaching us on earth 3> convection - transmission by molecular action. E.G. fluid or gas. David -Original Message- From: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Boyce, Ray Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 12:44 AM To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Under Floor Heating It's a simple fact-heat goes up. With that in mind, it seems the most effective heating system would be the floor. New products available today allow the floor to provide very efficient heat. And, don't think radiant floor heating is new. It is probably one of the oldest known methods of central heating. The Romans built a fire below the living space and the heat from the fire traveled through passages or channels under the floors. European kings and queens used a similar system during the "Dark Ages" to heat their castles. Hot water was one of the first "modern" radiant systems. As early as 1942 an American company started testing and experimenting with radiant heat for residential use. After WWII a number of huge housing developments used the technique. The metal pipes of the first units installed in hastily built concrete slabs of the time quickly degraded. And the copper, steel and wrought iron piping deteriorated over the years when placed in a concrete slab. Today's plastic technology has produced products that alleviate the problems of earlier radiant heating systems. The plastic cross-linking process produces tubing that is very strong at high temperatures and high pressures, and the flexibility of the plastic allows it to move with the natural movement and settling of a house without leaking or otherwise being compromised. Unlike hot water baseboard or forced air, a radiant floor heating system heats objects instead of just the air in the room. Because every building, no matter how well insulated, constantly looses heat to the outside, conventional heating systems work to replace this loss. Our bodies lose heat to the colder objects around us. We feel cold because of this heat loss. Because heat always flows toward cold, if you are standing next to an object that is colder than your body, that object will steal body heat. A radiant floor heating system does not heat the air directly like a baseboard or forced air system. Rather, a radiant system warms the floor, the chair, the sofa, the tables, and so forth, and this slows the rate at which your body looses heat to these objects. An overall even feeling of warmth and comfort is the result. Interestingly, the air temperature in the room can be considerably lower if your body is in a room full of warm objects. In fact, many people with radiant heat lower their thermostats to 65 degrees and still feel more comfortable than they did with their baseboard or forced air system set at 70 to 72 degrees. It's important to note that in a baseboard or forced air system, the warmest air is at the ceiling and the coolest air is at the floor. This, of course, is not efficient. A radiant system that produces warm feet and a cooler head is healthier and feels more comfortable. Radiant floor heating systems may be hydronic, circulating water through tubes embedded in the floor, or electric, utilizing electric heat cables beneath the floor covering. The latter is available only to specific floor coverings, while the hydronic is not. Most hydronic floor systems are divided into separate heating zones. (Image courtesy of Uponor Wirsbo) Hydronic Systems Hydronic systems, such as those from the Radiant Floor Company, use warm water to turn your floor into a large radiator that sends waves of radiant energy in all directions, warming everything in the room. The methods of heating the water are as varied as your imagination. Solar panels, oil and gas boilers, water heaters, wood boilers, geothermal and electric are all viable methods of heating water for a hydronic radiant floor system. The water is then sent through the tubing via a circulator pump. Additional materials such as manifolds, mixing valves, expansion tanks and thermostatic controls are designed into the system to fine tune the heat for optimum comfort. Before any radiant system is installed in your house, the contractor or the system supplier must perform a heat loss calculation. This is done by determining the amount of heat that your house will lose on the coldest day of the year in your location. This heat loss is expressed in terms of BTUs or British Thermal Units. The supplier or contractor then designs the system so that the heat output from the radiant floor exceeds heat loss from the house. This is done through a combination of tubing spacing and water temperature. High-tech, cross-linked polyethylene is used these days as the tubing fo
RE: [BlindHandyMan] Under Floor Heating
Hi David I worked at am Aluminium Smelter and Had to change the Air Motors on the Anodes and I can tell you heat rises from the molten aluminium below, Because you are working just above the molten mass. -Original Message- From: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of David W Wood Sent: Thursday, 14 February 2008 17:13 To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [BlindHandyMan] Under Floor Heating Heat doesn't raise - Hot air does! Heat is transmitted in three ways: 1> Conduction - migrating to its cooler neighbour 2> radiation - such as the sun's heat reaching us on earth 3> convection - transmission by molecular action. E.G. fluid or gas. David -Original Message- From: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Boyce, Ray Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 12:44 AM To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Under Floor Heating It's a simple fact-heat goes up. With that in mind, it seems the most effective heating system would be the floor. New products available today allow the floor to provide very efficient heat. And, don't think radiant floor heating is new. It is probably one of the oldest known methods of central heating. The Romans built a fire below the living space and the heat from the fire traveled through passages or channels under the floors. European kings and queens used a similar system during the "Dark Ages" to heat their castles. Hot water was one of the first "modern" radiant systems. As early as 1942 an American company started testing and experimenting with radiant heat for residential use. After WWII a number of huge housing developments used the technique. The metal pipes of the first units installed in hastily built concrete slabs of the time quickly degraded. And the copper, steel and wrought iron piping deteriorated over the years when placed in a concrete slab. Today's plastic technology has produced products that alleviate the problems of earlier radiant heating systems. The plastic cross-linking process produces tubing that is very strong at high temperatures and high pressures, and the flexibility of the plastic allows it to move with the natural movement and settling of a house without leaking or otherwise being compromised. Unlike hot water baseboard or forced air, a radiant floor heating system heats objects instead of just the air in the room. Because every building, no matter how well insulated, constantly looses heat to the outside, conventional heating systems work to replace this loss. Our bodies lose heat to the colder objects around us. We feel cold because of this heat loss. Because heat always flows toward cold, if you are standing next to an object that is colder than your body, that object will steal body heat. A radiant floor heating system does not heat the air directly like a baseboard or forced air system. Rather, a radiant system warms the floor, the chair, the sofa, the tables, and so forth, and this slows the rate at which your body looses heat to these objects. An overall even feeling of warmth and comfort is the result. Interestingly, the air temperature in the room can be considerably lower if your body is in a room full of warm objects. In fact, many people with radiant heat lower their thermostats to 65 degrees and still feel more comfortable than they did with their baseboard or forced air system set at 70 to 72 degrees. It's important to note that in a baseboard or forced air system, the warmest air is at the ceiling and the coolest air is at the floor. This, of course, is not efficient. A radiant system that produces warm feet and a cooler head is healthier and feels more comfortable. Radiant floor heating systems may be hydronic, circulating water through tubes embedded in the floor, or electric, utilizing electric heat cables beneath the floor covering. The latter is available only to specific floor coverings, while the hydronic is not. Most hydronic floor systems are divided into separate heating zones. (Image courtesy of Uponor Wirsbo) Hydronic Systems Hydronic systems, such as those from the Radiant Floor Company, use warm water to turn your floor into a large radiator that sends waves of radiant energy in all directions, warming everything in the room. The methods of heating the water are as varied as your imagination. Solar panels, oil and gas boilers, water heaters, wood boilers, geothermal and electric are all viable methods of heating water for a hydronic radiant floor system. The water is then sent through the tubing via a circulator pump. Additional materials such as manifolds, mixing valves, expansion tanks and thermostatic controls are designed into the system to fine tune the heat for optimum comfort. Before any radiant system is installed in your house, the contractor or the system supplier must perform a heat loss calculation. This is done by determining the
RE: [BlindHandyMan] Under Floor Heating
No - the heat is felt, but it is transmitted by one of the three methods which I mentioned in my previous message. Heat is a relative concept. You are confusing it with temperature which is an exact measure. BTW: my first degree was in physics! David -Original Message- From: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Boyce, Ray Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 10:03 PM To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [BlindHandyMan] Under Floor Heating Hi David I worked at am Aluminium Smelter and Had to change the Air Motors on the Anodes and I can tell you heat rises from the molten aluminium below, Because you are working just above the molten mass. -Original Message- From: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of David W Wood Sent: Thursday, 14 February 2008 17:13 To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Subject: RE: [BlindHandyMan] Under Floor Heating Heat doesn't raise - Hot air does! Heat is transmitted in three ways: 1> Conduction - migrating to its cooler neighbour 2> radiation - such as the sun's heat reaching us on earth 3> convection - transmission by molecular action. E.G. fluid or gas. David -Original Message- From: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Boyce, Ray Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2008 12:44 AM To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Under Floor Heating It's a simple fact-heat goes up. With that in mind, it seems the most effective heating system would be the floor. New products available today allow the floor to provide very efficient heat. And, don't think radiant floor heating is new. It is probably one of the oldest known methods of central heating. The Romans built a fire below the living space and the heat from the fire traveled through passages or channels under the floors. European kings and queens used a similar system during the "Dark Ages" to heat their castles. Hot water was one of the first "modern" radiant systems. As early as 1942 an American company started testing and experimenting with radiant heat for residential use. After WWII a number of huge housing developments used the technique. The metal pipes of the first units installed in hastily built concrete slabs of the time quickly degraded. And the copper, steel and wrought iron piping deteriorated over the years when placed in a concrete slab. Today's plastic technology has produced products that alleviate the problems of earlier radiant heating systems. The plastic cross-linking process produces tubing that is very strong at high temperatures and high pressures, and the flexibility of the plastic allows it to move with the natural movement and settling of a house without leaking or otherwise being compromised. Unlike hot water baseboard or forced air, a radiant floor heating system heats objects instead of just the air in the room. Because every building, no matter how well insulated, constantly looses heat to the outside, conventional heating systems work to replace this loss. Our bodies lose heat to the colder objects around us. We feel cold because of this heat loss. Because heat always flows toward cold, if you are standing next to an object that is colder than your body, that object will steal body heat. A radiant floor heating system does not heat the air directly like a baseboard or forced air system. Rather, a radiant system warms the floor, the chair, the sofa, the tables, and so forth, and this slows the rate at which your body looses heat to these objects. An overall even feeling of warmth and comfort is the result. Interestingly, the air temperature in the room can be considerably lower if your body is in a room full of warm objects. In fact, many people with radiant heat lower their thermostats to 65 degrees and still feel more comfortable than they did with their baseboard or forced air system set at 70 to 72 degrees. It's important to note that in a baseboard or forced air system, the warmest air is at the ceiling and the coolest air is at the floor. This, of course, is not efficient. A radiant system that produces warm feet and a cooler head is healthier and feels more comfortable. Radiant floor heating systems may be hydronic, circulating water through tubes embedded in the floor, or electric, utilizing electric heat cables beneath the floor covering. The latter is available only to specific floor coverings, while the hydronic is not. Most hydronic floor systems are divided into separate heating zones. (Image courtesy of Uponor Wirsbo) Hydronic Systems Hydronic systems, such as those from the Radiant Floor Company, use warm water to turn your floor into a large radiator that sends waves of radiant energy in all directions, warming everything in the room. The methods of heating the water are as varied as your imagination. Solar panels, oil and gas boilers, water heaters, wood boilers
