Radiant Floor Heating Systems

If you want to use radiant floor heating system to warm your house and have started to look around for one that will fit your needs, you may be confused as to which one you will purchase. With all the products and companies in the market, it could be a bit hard to decide which one will best work for you.

To guide you in determining which system to choose, here are the types of systems available.

1. Hydronic Heating Systems

Hydronic floor heating is probably the most popular and oldest radiant floor heating system type.  These systems are made up of a hot water heater or a boiler, manifolds, pumps, thermostat, pex tubing and wood panels or gypcrete, which is a concrete-like material. The most complex of the radiant floor heating systems, hydronic heating require the help of trained professionals in order to design and complete the installation. Hydronic systems would be more suitable for bigger area or larger homes as their operational costs and components are a bit expensive.

2. Electric Cable Heating

Electric cable heating systems, which are usually referred to as high voltage systems, are becoming more and more popular are great for heating the smaller area of around 10 to 300 square feet such as kitchens, bathrooms and sun rooms. These systems are made up of a heating cable and a thermostat. In some systems, the cable would be shipped on a large spool. These systems are usually less expensive and are able to offer you the power to determine how you want for the cables to be spaced. You would also have the ability to customize a layout, which would heat your entire floor. There are other systems that have the cable already attached to a tape or a plastic mesh so that the spacing is already set.

3. Low-Voltage Screen

Lastly, the low voltage radiant floor heating systems would be what are suitable for the medium-sized to larger areas of 300 to 3000 square feet. These systems are made up of a transformer, heating cable or screen, a control box and thermostat. The primary advantage that you get from using a low-voltage screen or Zmesh system is its heating element has an extremely low profile. Zmesh is a bronze-wired mesh with a width of 12 inches that looks like the material used for a screen door. It is as thin as paper and does not cause for floors to swell when installed. It can be directly installed under any flooring type like tile, carpet and hardwood. Unlike other cable heating systems that have to be installed over the concrete board, Zmesh could be installed under it. Low-voltage screen systems can easily be installed and requires minimal maintenance, similar to a Hydronic system.