Radiant Floor Advantages
The picture on the left shows radiant tubing stapled to the subfloor, prior to pouring concrete over the top. Radiant heating provides the following benefits over other methods of heating:
- Higher efficiency; uses lower temperature water, so the boiler can be run at much lower temperatures.
- The lower heat requirement is an excellent match for the temperatures available with solar.
- Superior comfort; a warm floor is not only more comfortable to walk or stand on, but allows lower temperature settings, leading to lower fuel costs than with a similar comfort level obtained from radiators, baseboard, or forced air systems.
The picture on the right shows a typical integrated radiant/solar system in the mechanical room:
- High efficiency modulating/condensing (mod/con) boiler used as backup for solar heating (solar storage tank not shown).
- Controls must be designed so as to ensure seamless tradeoff between solar and boiler subsystems.
Return to CCE Home
