How Does a Radiant Heat System Work?
Radiant heating is an effective, energy-efficient method of warming a space by heating the floor or ceiling. Floor radiant heating is the most popular and best choice in most applications. A room or space with floor radiant heating is warmed quickly with low energy loss because heat permeates upward through the floor and rises, making the space more comfortable in cold weather. Does this Spark an idea?
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Hydronic Systems
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Hydronic systems are heating and cooling systems that use water pumping through pipes to warm or cool a space or structure. Radiant heating is one example of a hydronic system, however there are others, including hot or chilled water supply and return fan-coil systems. Although a few radiant systems use electrical heating, most use hot water circulated through coiled pipe loops embedded in a concrete slab or subfloor.
Design
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A radiant heating floor or ceiling requires a hot water supply, so planning must occur before installation. The pipes must be embedded in the floor or ceiling before use, and they must be extremely strong and resilient because of the difficulty of repair. Nevertheless, the careful layout of the radiant heating system allows a great deal of variation of heating throughout a structure because of the flexibility of temperature control in a building with radiant heating.
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Floor Heating
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Floor radiant heating is the most popular method of radiant heating. In floor heating, the water is 120 F, pumped through 3/4-inch pipes at 12 inches on center embedded in the floor. The system provides 50 BTUs per hour square foot; the heat radiates from the floor and warms the entire space.
Ceiling Heating
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Ceiling radiant heating is less efficient. This system requires 140 F water, pumped through 3/8 inch pipes at 6 inches on center. The system provides 60 BTUs per hour square foot, however the extra output is necessary to counter the natural phenomenon of heat rising.
Zoning
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As mentioned above, the control of the flow of hot water through radiant systems allows a great deal of variation of temperature between spaces in a structure with radiant heating. So, a room on the north side of a structure in winter can be heated more than a space on the south side. Furthermore, a first floor in a radiant heated structure in winter can be heated more than the second floor, if desired. Zoning allows the better control of the temperature across a structure.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit winter image by Marek Kosmal from Fotolia.com
