Man hammering floor into place above radiant system

How Does Radiant Heat Work?

Heating from Below

There are many ways to keep your home warm throughout the bone-chilling winter days ahead of us, and an increasingly popular choice for home comfort systems is radiant heat. Inspired by the early heating systems of the Romans in which they would heat a room by creating smoke and steam in a basement of sorts below, radiant heat could be an efficient choice for your home.

Read on to learn more about radiant heating, how it works, and why it’s so popular.

How It Works

A radiant heating system is comprised of a series of tubes or wires that run across the span of a room or home. Whether by water or electricity, these tubes and wires are made hot, radiating their heat up through the floorboards and into your home.

The Benefits of Radiant Heat

Radiant heating comes with many benefits compared to a traditional heating system.

Versatility

First, while the installation can be pretty invasive, as the system is placed beneath your flooring, it can be installed beneath the majority of flooring types including wood, concrete, carpet, and tile.

Efficiency

One of the largest benefits of a radiant system is its efficiency. By eliminating ducts, radiant heat cuts down on air loss, using less energy to warm your home. No ducts also means the air in your home won’t be collecting dust and other pollutants and spreading them throughout the home.

Even Heating

You’ve heard that warm air rises, right? Radiant heat takes advantage of this by heating through floors. In traditional, forced air systems, many vents are located near the ceiling, meaning that the warm air will fill the room from the top, not allowing for the rest of the room to reach the ideal temperature.

Radiant Heat Installation

If you have questions about your radiant heating installation, contact the team at AWS Plumbing, Heating & Cooling! You can also learn more about radiant heat on our website, or by giving us a call at (516) 217-2196.