Air conditioning may also be added to hydronically heated homes as a separate system. In addition to room heating, other hydronic applications include domestic hot water heating, swimming pool and whirlpool heating, snow and ice melting for sidewalks and driveways and bathroom towel rack warming. Gibb says the additional installation costs for her hydronic radiant heating were for the light-weight concrete slab over the regular floor framing, additional structural framing to carry this added dead load of the framing, insulation under every interior floor, a separate AC system and recessed lighting fixtures rated for use with insulation. For my money, the advantages of hydronic radiant heating are more than worth the additional installation costs." The operating cost savings were significant and with today's higher energy prices, the savings are even greater. house, which is fully exposed at the roof and the entire perimeter of the house, the heating cost in 2004-05 was about $350-$400 per month (9-10 cents per sq. "During the very coldest winter months of 2003-04," she says, "our heating costs at the condo were about $250-$300 per month (17-20 cents per sq. forced-air-heated townhouse condo with that of her new radiant-heated two-family house in Cambridge. Gibb compared the heating cost of her previous 1,500 sq. That means the homeowner continues to feel the warmth of the heating system at substantial operating cost savings."Īfter installing radiant heating in 2004, Ms. The mass of the concrete retains the heat of the system. This concrete slab helps provide the outstanding comfort and energy efficiency of hydronic radiant heating. "For our own home, we decided to embed the radiant tubing in a light-weight concrete slab poured on top of the plywood subfloor. Gibb, an architect in Cambridge, MA, and an assistant professor of architecture at Wentworth Institute of Technology. "Aside from the unsurpassed heating comfort, there are cost benefits as well to a hydronic radiant installation," says Elizabeth A. And now, thousands of American homeowners are enjoying the comfort and high efficiency of radiant heating. Homeowners throughout the Far East and Europe have been using it for decades. Radiant heating has actually been used since the time of the ancient Romans. Yet this luxurious heating comfort is extremely energy efficient because it warms the objects in the room, not the room air. Stepping out of a shower onto a warm, radiant-heated bathroom floor feels like a supreme luxury, even on the coldest winter days and nights. This heating system is gentle and soothing with no drafts and no hot or cold spots in the home. Radiant heating is a form of hydronic (hot water) heating that distributes hot water from a centrally located boiler through highly durable plastic tubing installed in floors, walls or ceilings. They are opting for radiant floor heating.
In an economic climate in which everyone wants top value for every dollar spent, increasing numbers of homeowners are choosing a surprisingly efficient and extremely comfortable form of home heating.
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