How heated flooring works

The link from cave man to today’s modern man has always been the need for warmth. Throughout time man has tried to create the very best means of keeping warm.

Of all methods created, radiant heat is probably the most natural; and provides the greatest comfort. The Sun heats the Earth through radiant heat, we take pleasure from walking in the sunshine, lying on a beach, or huddling round a camp fire.

Underfloor heating is not a modern concept. The Romans considered this form of heating to be fundamental in designing and constructing quality buildings throughout Europe, including many constructed in Britain.

In recent years a great deal of progress has been made in the efficiency and heat retention of modern structures. Building Regulations are designed around the strength, efficiency and how long the components of a modern building will last.

Cutting costs in all these areas would not be welcome. However, when it comes to the heating system, it is chosen and installed on the lowest cost basis, rather than efficiency.

It is strange, that the one component that can make or break the comfort level of any structure, between eight and nine months a year, is not considered of the grounds of combining efficiency and cost effective heating.

THREE FORMS OF HEAT

RADIANT: that form of heating that radiates from a heat source i.e. from the sun/camp fire.

CONDUCTED: that form of heating that is passed from one to another i.e. from two people cuddling or two materials in contact.

CONVECTED: a combination of the above warming the air / gasses and causing them to rise.

The best comfort level using the minimum energy is best achieved by using and combining all three types of heat.

UNDERFLOOR HEATING DOES THIS.

Around 20 deg. C. air temperature is generally accepted the norm for modern space heating. To achieve this with most types of heating systems, a much higher temperature is created at a high level. This high level, high temperature heat does nothing to maintain or achieve comfort. It is unwanted and expensive to produce, and the only result is to heat the ceiling.

We all know that if our feet are warm then we feel warm. In fact, research shows that the best comfort levels are achieved when our feet are a little warmer than our heads. As the blood is closer to the skin surface on our feet they act as a thermostat for the body.

If we are to achieve this degree of comfort, then the obvious solution is to raise the floor temperature and warm the feet through conduction, allow the floor to radiate and the warm air to pass us as it rises.

It is this balance between radiant, conducted and convected heat which creates the pleasant comfortable indoor climate, characteristic of an underfloor heating system.

The whole floor acts as a radiator which means that you have a huge area, of which the temperature can be reduced and still achieve the same output as that from very hot and usually ugly radiators or free standing heaters. The lower temperature, usually only a few degrees above the required air temperature, means that the warm airflow is reduced cutting down on draughts (thermal currents), the movement of dust and the all important cold feet syndrome.

If we equate the radiator with say a bonfire in the garden, the closer we are to it, the greater the benefit. The radiant effect decreases rapidly the further we move away from it, a radiator works in the same way. We gain very little comfort in actual radiation from them.

With underfloor heating the floor is the radiant plane, as the whole area is heated to an equal temperature it is simply not possible to move away from the radiation effect, other than hanging from the roof.

Since the head is furthest from the radiant source and the feet are the closest, the logical way to achieve the ideal comfort level is underfloor heating.