Electric Radiant Floor Heating - How It Works

Electric radiant floor heating has advantages for many reasons. Unlike forced air systems and furnaces, a radiant floor heats your home silently. You'll no longer hear the humming sound that a furnace creates.

Additionally, electric radiant floor heating does not involve using any vents. Let's face it -- vents are ugly and they are often in the way. Now you can decorate without having to worry about your vents sticking out or trying to match a color scheme. Other benefits include the fact that your skin is less likely to dry out, as well as the fact that without air system dust and germs flying around through the air, it's harder for them to spread throughout the home.

So, how does radiant floor heating actually work?

First, before the flooring is installed, prebuilt heating mats are placed underneath it. These can be used under tile, stone, engineered wood, laminate and other hard surfaces. These mats are controlled by a convienently located thermostat. Installations of the heating mats are easy and often can be installed in a room of any size or shape. This is because there are many different sizes of square and rectangular shaped mats that you can purchase.

Electric radiant floor heating covers the whole area underneath the floor. This means that there will be no cold spots in the room.

You have a variety of options when it comes to controlling the temperature of your floor heating system. There are different thermostats that you can purchase depending upon your needs and preferences. One thermostat on the market currently allows you to create a seven-day program for heating your home to enjoy energy efficiency.

It's important to look at this type of heating system as an investment instead of one that is costing you money. This is because they will lower the cost of heating your home. The reason is simple -- the greatest amount of heat loss will occur in the top half of the room. Unfortunately, furnaces mostly heat the top half of the room.

When many people install an electric radiant floor heating system they find that they can create the same warmth in their home by setting the thermostat 2-4° lower than they previously had with their furnace. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how being able to set your thermostat 4° lower and still experience the same warmth will save you a lot of money over the course of time.

By running your thermostat 2- 4° lower, you can reduce the costs of heating your home by 10 to 30%.