Warmzone Blog

Just think of how many bedroom slippers are given as gifts each holiday season — probably enough to fill Yankee Stadium twice over. This year, though, we bet that many of those gift slippers will not be needed any more, with more homes installing radiant floor heating and keeping thousands of pairs of feet warm.
A comparison of radiant floor heating to forced air is a car that has heated seats and a forced air heater/furnace. The forced air in a car can dry you out and can become uncomfortable and is difficult to dial in because of the heat loss due to its air delivery. A heated seat will provide you with quick results and will remain warm long after it is reduced or turned completely off. The heated seat actually warms your body and the car seat, not the air. Forced air will over time will inefficiently heat objects but with the negative side effects of dry air, dust and pollen.
The silent operation of a radiant floor heating system free from drafts or flying dust particles is why these systems are becoming so popular. Many homeowners are searching for ways in which they can create a more comfortable, efficient, and healthier atmosphere in their homes. Radiant floor heating accomplishes each of those goals.
Radiant Floor Heating Tip: If you’ve never experienced the warmth and comfort of radiant floor heating, you’re definitely missing out on one of the finer things in life.

If you were to poll homeowners who use electric radiant heat in their homes, among the users’ favorite benefits to this heating system would likely be amazing comfort. Doesn’t seem important to you? Well, have you ever noticed during the winter how your feet can be icy cold, while you’re upper body and head are sweating? This is because traditional forced air heating puts the heat in the air, which rises to our head level. This leaves the air at our feet cold, and the air at our head hot.
This is really not optimal, because our upper body and head areas are generally hot due to the fact that this is where the majority of our body heat escapes. Having electric radiant heat in the floor increases our comfort by bringing the heat to our feet, which leaves the air at head level cooler. This scenario creates the perfect level of comfort.
Electric radiant heat is a unique transfer of energy that naturally searches out colder objects to warm. Instead of rising like warm air, radiant heat starts by warming the coldest and closest objects from its source. This is why radiant heating systems are generally placed under floors – either during construction or even later during a remodeling.
Electric Radiant Heat Tip: Radiant floor heat combined with the proper fuel, a high efficiency heat source and good building practices will give you dramatic fuel savings and a greater level of comfort over any other system. Your electric radiant system could use 30% less fuel than the average new forced air heating system. Installing a high efficiency air conditioning system will result in dramatic energy savings year-round.

Spring is the time when most new construction starts around the country.  Even with the slowing of the housing market, many homeowners are still choosing tile or scored cement flooring for their homes, particularly in kitchens and living areas.  Sometimes they second-guess those choices, worrying about their little ones playing, or laying down on cold floors. Many others love the look of tile, wood, or floating woods but dread stepping out of their soothing hot shower onto cold tile, especially during those frigid winter months. And That’s why so many are opting for floor heating systems to warm up their floors.

Contrary to what some may think, the installation of floor warming products is not new: heated floors have been installed under bathroom and kitchen tile in the United States for the past 10 years and the warming products continue to gain popularity. Many in the kitchen and bath industry expect radiant floors to continue to play a big role among homeowners who crave comfort features.

Evenly distributed radiant heat in your floors will allow you to turn down your thermostat two to four degrees. This can reduce energy costs by 10-40%. This setback to your thermostat can happen because a warm floor heats from the ground up and delivers the heat through objects not air. This makes the lowest three feet of your home the most comfortable where a forced air system loses its heat to the ceiling and is required to heat from the top down.

Radiant Floor Heating Tip: Delivering heat by air also makes it easy to escape and increase your overall heat loss but with radiant floor heating, the heat is evenly distributed and efficient to boot.

Here’s a home heating pop quiz for you: how can you comfortably heat your home while also enjoying a reduction in energy usage? Through radiant floor heating, of course! Delivering heat by air makes it easy to escape and increase your overall heat loss, while, through radiant floor heating, the evenly distributed radiant heat allows homeowners to turn down the thermostat two to four degrees.

Naturally, turning down a thermostat can reduce energy costs by 10-40% and can be verified with your local utility company. This setback to your thermostat can happen because a radiant floor heats from the ground up and delivers the heat through objects not air. This makes the lowest three feet of your home the most comfortable where a forced air system loses its heat to the ceiling and is required to heat from the top down.

Believe it or not, the installation of radiant floor heating is not a new development in the housing industry. Heated floors have been installed under bathroom and kitchen tile in the United States for the past decade and the warming products continue to gain popularity.

Radiant Floor Heating Tip: Many in the kitchen and bath industry expect heating your floor radiantly to continue to play a big role among homeowners who crave comfort features.

It used to be that electric radiant heat was, once upon a time, supplied as one long continuous length of cable with the consumer having to weave the cable up and down the floor at a pre-determined spacing and making a return loop to complete the circuit.

However, recent and improved designs in electric radiant heat cables have a built-in return meaning that you only have one end to connect instead of having to close the circuit by bringing each end of the cable back to the thermostat. Far from complicated to install, electric radiant heat cable mats have taken the hard work out of the install by having the radiant heating cable already pre-spaced on to a nylon mesh and all you have to do is simply start at your thermostat location and roll it out over the floor until it’s all used up.

You might think that electric radiant heat is difficult and time-consuming to install, and has the risk of uneven heating spacing – but times have changed since those early days of the radiant heat technology. Let’s get you up-to-date on how many improvements have been made to electric radiant heat, contributing to it fast becoming a popular choice for energy-efficient and cost-efficient home heating.

Electric Radiant Heat Tip: The innovative electric radiant heat cable mats save time and offer a lowered risk of having hot and cold spots.

You might not realize the amazing number of possibility of uses for radiant floor heating in homes. Bathrooms, kitchens and entryways are ideals places to incorporate radiant heat. Tile, marble, slate, and even hardwood are floor coverings that are cold to step onto with bare feet during winter or summer. A radiant heat product can be installed under these surfaces throughout the home and take the cold bite out of these areas. Just think: you’ll never have cold floors or feet again!

Another area of the home that radiant floor heating makes sense in is your basement. Basements are one of the top requested areas to add radiant heat. Due to the fact that forced air systems heat air and hot air rises the basement is usually the living space that remains cold. New construction is the best time to add radiant heat to a basement.

Radiant Floor Heating Tip: Whether you’re building a new home, or remodeling your existing home, radiant floor heating is a great and affordable way to add comfort and efficiency to the rooms in your home that are traditionally hard to heat.