How Under Floor Heating Systems Can Be Efficient And Environmentally Friendly For Any Home

The use of under floor heating systems is becoming more common because it can easily be adapted to use any environmentally friendly source of heat such as geothermal or solar. It can even use the current central heating system or the water heater in the existing structure. The other option is to have a brand new heating system installed.

Antifreeze can be used in the system but obviously it can't be tied to the home's water heater. It can be used in either residential or commercial structures. It can even be used in concrete floors with today's technology in plastics. This is handy to know because concrete has a nasty habit of corroding metals commonly used for pipes such as copper, steel or iron.

An underfloor heating system works by circulating water through a boiler that is fueled with gas, oil, solar energy, electricity, geothermal or whatever the mind dreams up. The water is then sent through the home in a closed loop system under the floor. The water comes back through the boiler to be heated up and continue the circuit once again.

In an underfloor system, pipes carry relatively low temperature water under the surface of the floor allowing the room to be heated from the floor up because, as everyone knows, heat rises. It uses less heated water because the entire floor surface is being heated versus heating a tiny area and blowing the heat out.

The central boiler that heats the water does not require as much fuel (such as gas, oil, solar energy, etc) because it is not heating the water to a very high temperature. It uses a closed loop system so that it does not lose water to evaporation causing the home owner to add additional water periodically.

Unlike forced air heating systems, underfloor heating does not heat the air. It heats the objects such as the floor, furniture, etc. Rooms heated with underfloor water heating won't have that dreaded cold spot that many rooms do that are heated with forced air. Each and every room can have its own thermostat so that each room or zone can be temperature controlled individually. This saves money by not heating rooms or zones that are not in use, thus wasting energy.

Heating with this system is extremely quiet and efficient. Underfloor systems won't dry out the air like forced air heating systems that can cause a multitude of health issues because of dry air. They do not use duct-work that can pump dust throughout the home resulting in poor air quality. Under flooring systems are less conducive to mold and mold spores.

Keeping pipes from freezing in an underfloor system is critical to avoid pipes bursting and creating large amounts of water damage. Antifreeze in the line has been discussed earlier as one deterrent to this problem. Other home owners use generators as backup power just in case of a power failure. Some homes have alternate sources of heat such as kerosene burners, wood stoves, wood burners or fireplaces just in case of a power failure. However, overall this type of heat system is very efficient and well worth considering.