Radiant floor heat is a superior method of whole home heating.  Compared to forced hot air, floor radiant heat is more comfortable, more energy efficient, provides a healthier home environment, and is more aesthetically pleasing from a design perspective.  Here’s why:

Radiant Heat = Comfort
Comfort is hard to define.  It’s better understood as the absence of discomfort.  In that light, perhaps the most remarkable thing about radiant heat is … well … nothing.  There are no forced air registers to see, no noise or dust from mechanical blowers, no hot air blowing on you to exacerbate winter dryness, no hot ceilings to waste energy, no cold floors to chill your feet.

Another great benefit is that floors feel subtly warm to our feet.  When you get out of the your warm bed in the morning or get out of a hot shower, instead of stepping on a floor that might be 66˚ with that somewhat disturbing feel, you step on a 76˚ floor. The mild warmth of a radiant floor is a subtle experience.  It’s not too warm.  It’s not too cold.  It’s the just right floor that Goldilocks would love.

Radiant Heat = Energy Savings
A typical radiant heated home in the United States can expect a 25% energy savings over a conventional forced air heated home. This 25% savings can be attributed to a number of factors which are detailed below. A 1998 study done at Kansas State University in conjunction with the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) established the 25% figure. It is difficult to precisely quantify the savings because actual savings can vary depending on the design of a particular home, the climate zone it is located in, the fuel used to heat the home, etc.

• Parasitic losses
Parasitic loss refers to energy lost due to inherent inefficiencies of a system. For example, duct work in a forced air heating system is relatively large in diameter, difficult to permanently seal and insulate, and is often located in unheated crawl spaces or basements. As hot air is blown down these ducts, heat is lost through the walls of the ducts and potentially wherever there may be leaks at joints.

When hot air is blown into a room with a door closed, there may not be a good return path for that hot air which causes a slight increase in the pressure in that room. This can often cause the pressure to be released by leaking outside around the weather stripping on windows. The blowers used in forced air systems typically require 9x as much electricity as the pumps in radiant systems. All of these parasitic losses add up in forced air systems, decreasing their efficiency by up to 30% compared to radiant floor heating.

• Lower ceiling temperatures
When air comes out of a forced air heating system duct, it is typically between 120 and 140 degrees. This hot air rapidly rises causing a heated air layer near the ceiling. This can often be 10 or more degrees warmer than the air temperature at the floor. This stratification effect becomes greater as the ceiling height becomes greater. When ceilings are hot and they are just below a cold roof, heat loss can be quite high. It is precisely because of this effect that we insulate ceilings and attics so much.

• Zoning reduces energy usage
Most forced air heated homes have a single thermostat, in other words, they are single zone systems. This is because forced air systems are inherently difficult and therefore, expensive to zone.

• Lower air temperatures for the same comfort
If we are outside on a spring day when the sun is shining, we may be comfortable in shirtsleeves when the air is only 60 degrees because the radiant warmth of the sun allows us to be comfortable at a lower air temperature. The same is true in a radiant home. With the warmth of the infra red shining on us from the floor, studies have shown that the same comfort is achieved in a radiant home when the thermostat is set a couple of degrees lower as compared to a forced air home at the higher thermostat setting.

• Blowing hot air paradoxically can cool us
When we are outside on a mild spring day we may be comfortable until the wind picks up. Even though the air temperature has not changed, the mere fact that there is air movement across our skins causes evaporative cooling. Paradoxically, the blowing hot air from a duct can cause you to set the thermostat to a slightly higher temperature to maintain the same comfort achieved in a radiant home at a lower set point.

Radiant Heat = Healthy Home Environment
Radiant floor heating improves indoor air quality because the heat is radiated from the floor so there are no allergens or dust particles blowing around the room as there are with forced air systems.  Improved indoor air quality can reduce allergies, medical bills, and more as the heat is radiated and not blown around.  European studies indicate that dust mites are reduced as much as 90% in radiant heated homes.  And, a quiet peaceful environment (no noisy fans and blowers found with a forced air heating system) is considered a healthier environment.

Radiant Heat = Design Freedom
Radiant floor heating allows architects total design freedom because there are no floor registers, no baseboard radiators, and no wall or ceiling chases.  Furniture can be placed anywhere in rooms without regard to registers.  Also rooms with high, open beam ceilings and/or floor to ceiling windows can be easily and efficiently heated.  Mechanical systems for radiant floor heating can also be designed more freely because of the ability to easily interface with alternative energy sources like solar, geothermal and cogeneration fuel cells.

How Does Radiant Cooling Work?
Because cold air falls and hot air rises, it is better to heat through the floor and cool through the ceiling.  Cooling through the ceiling maintains this flexibility.  This can be accomplished in several ways.  Where framing allows, conventional ductwork and an air handler are used.  Where framing limits the use of conventional ducting, there are high velocity small diameter duct systems or mini-split systems that have no ductwork.

These benefits are what make floor radiant the superior method of whole home heating. To learn why Warmboard is the best, click here.