From Guest Blogger Mary Mathis: Why Hydronic Underfloor Heating Is a Boon for the Green Environment
In winters, the floors need to be heated up to a certain temperature, to enable people walk comfortably over these floors, even without carpets. But the room heaters merely heat the air of the room and not the floors. So the best option is to install the Hydronic underfloor heating system, which is the circulation of the heated water through the pipes, which are laid in a definite design under the floors. Usually, this water is heated by either electrical energy or through solar power, but this system is known to be highly beneficial for saving the surrounding environment, through its smooth and efficient operations.
Environmental advantages of Hydronic Underfloor Heating:
- This heating system does not create any mechanical noise during its operation, as it heats the floors of the rooms through radiant energy. It is the most silent heating system available in the market and helps in lessening the sound pollution of the surrounding environment.
- As this is uniform throughout the room, no space of the floor is hotter or cooler than rest of the room. Therefore, the occupants of the room can be comfortable enough on the warm floors. This floor heating procedure is particularly beneficial in the bathrooms, where people need to walk bare-footed over the floors.
- This heating system uses only radiant form of heat, just like the sunlight and thus, it does not absorb the necessary humidity of the air. So the people inside the room do not feel much dryness on their body, as in the presence of any ordinary room heater or even other central heating systems.
- There is no circulation of the dust present in the air, due to this radiant heating system, which is beneficial for the patients suffering from asthma or any other breathing problem. Moreover, warm and dry floor discourages the growth of the house dust mites, which are highly allergic to the asthma patients.
- It requires very little amount of energy, for which it is proved to be highly energy efficient and thus saves the environment from too much loss of natural energy. So this heating process has turned out to be the lowest carbon footprint technology of the current time, which means that it has the least contribution in the release of carbon dioxide into the air. Compared to the other heating systems, this hydronic underfloor heating can save up to 60 – 70% of the energy.
- As all the radiator panels pass under the floors, there is no chance of anyone getting hurt by colliding with these pipes. Hence, this system is absolutely safe for the children and fragile aged people. So, it is preferred to be installed in the schools and hospitals also.
- The temperature of this heating system can be effectively changed by a remote control, according to the comfort level of the occupants. Moreover, the warmth of this heating system is limited only to the lower part of the room that is in touch or near the floor; while the upper section remains mostly at the room temperature.
- As the total heating system is concealed under the flooring slabs, the panels and other heating mechanisms cannot be mishandled by any outsider. So this entire machinery can be kept absolutely secure from any kind of external damage.
- This heating system is open for circulating the heated water that uses any form of energy; varying from solar energy to electrical or thermal energy. Moreover, this same system can be used for circulating cold water, for bringing down the room temperatures in hot summer days.
While I am an advocate of Radiant heating this article is a mixture of fact, fiction and misunderstandings.
From the start, all water based heating systems typically heat a surface which heats the air in the room. This heat is then transmitted to surfaces in the room through conduction convection and radiation. A radiant floor heating system is no different. The difference with radiant floor heating is that heat is applied to the floor feels more comfortable.
The balance of the article is full of so many mistakes they are too numerous to mention.
From the article:
“So the best option is to install the Hydronic underfloor heating system, which is the circulation of the heated water through the pipes, which are laid in a definite design under the floors. Usually, this water is heated by either electrical energy or through solar power, but this system is known to be highly beneficial for saving the surrounding environment, through its smooth and efficient operations.”
Wrong, wrong, wrong!!
I have radiant floor heat with the heat supplied by a boiler which burns gas. That is how most radiant floor heating systems work. Using electricity would usually cost far more than gas and although I don’t doubt that some radiant floor heating systems do use electrically heated water, I don’t personally know of any. Although using solar heat for radiant floor heating can make sense and such systems exist, they are far less common than using gas. Oddly, gas was not even mentioned in the article even though it is the most common source of heat for radiant floor heat. Moreover, although it is possible to install radiant floor heating in an existing home, it is questionable whether the cost and complication would make sense. In that case, hot water baseboard heat or radiators would probably make more sense.
Also from the article:
“This heating system uses only radiant form of heat, just like the sunlight and thus, it does not absorb the necessary humidity of the air.”
That makes no sense. Just how could a heating system ABSORB humidity from the air? If it did, where would the humidity go? Of course heating air, by any means whatever, reduces its RELATIVE humidity simply because the capacity of the air to hold humidity is increased as its temperature is increased. That does not mean that it ABSORBS humidity from the air.
Also from the article:
“It requires very little amount of energy, for which it is proved to be highly energy efficient and thus saves the environment from too much loss of natural energy.”
Really? “Little amount of energy”? It does require less energy than other heating systems, that is true. But unless little is defined as perhaps 70%, radiant floor heat DOES NOT require LITTLE energy! Like heating systems in general, it requires a huge amount of energy.
An alternative to radiant floor heat is hot air heat. Partly because it takes far more power to circulate air than to circulate water, hot water heat does use less energy. For example, for radiant floor heat, the pump to circulate the water would probably be less than 1/10 HP whereas the blower for hot air heat would probably be ½ HP or greater. Also, with radiant floor heat, the heat is less likely to be lost before reaching the heated areas. Then too, radiant floor heat (or any heating system based on hot water) is more easily zoned than hot air heat.
I have radiant floor heat and really like it, for many of the reasons stated in the article. But please, do not exaggerate its advantages. It is superior without exaggerating its advantages, but it also has disadvantages.
Most radiant floor heating systems are not very good at tracking the demand for heat. For example, if it heats the concrete slab, because of the huge thermal mass of the slab, it takes HOURS to change the amount of heat delivered to the room. Thus, if the room is at a comfortable temperature but then the sun begins to shine into the windows, the room will become too warm because the amount of heat delivered cannot be quickly decreased. Similarly, the amount of heat delivered cannot be quickly increased.
There are solutions for the slow response problem, but they expensive. A company makes a product called Warmboard. It is similar to plywood except that instead of having wood veneer for the top layer, it has thin aluminum (aluminium for the Brits). There are grooves in the top of it into which the heating contractor presses the PEX AL PEX tubing for the warm water. The highly conductive aluminum on the top reduces the “striping” effect resulting in more even heat across the surface. And, because Warmboard is light, it stores less heat thereby making it possible to change heat output quickly as demand changes.
Another solution is to build the house with insulated concrete forms. Then the thermal mass of the walls will help to maintain a steady temperature even as solar heat through the windows varies. Unfortunately, construction with insulated concrete forms is expensive, else I would have built my house that way.
Again, although I see radiant floor heat as the best, like just about anything else, it is not perfect.
The article has enough errors in it to warrant editing it and reposting it. I doubt that the writer had taken physics courses at the college level or thoroughly studied heating systems.