Radiant Heating Service in North Central Illinois Area
Are you looking for an efficient and inexpensive way to heat your home in a more natural way? Radiant floor heating in North Central Illinois isn’t like forced air heat. It provides a more even heat distribution without the high temperatures and high prices associated with forced air.
Radiant Goes Under The Floor
You may remember the old days of radiator heating where water was heated inside a large metal radiator and the house warmed up through the ambient heat created by the water. While much has changed since those days, radiator heat is still an effective and efficient way of heating your home.
Town & Country specializes in in-floor radiator heat. Instead of a large above ground radiator that was known just as much for its high temperatures as its ability to hear, the in-floor heating system goes inside your concrete floor or underneath your wood floor to create the radiating heat. It’s safer than the traditional radiator and costs as much as 30 percent less than forced air.
How In-Floor Radiant Is Different Than Forced Air
With forced air heat, the furnace superheats the air and blows it into the home where it rises and then slowly descends as it cools. Once the desired temperature is reached, the unit shuts off. Radiant heat uses either heated water that comes from a boiler or heated electronic filaments and then heat slowly emanates from all areas of the floor. Forced air heat only comes up from the vents, but radiant in-floor heat comes from the entire floor.
An added benefit of in-floor radiant heating is you never have to worry about having a cold floor again. The days of walking across s cold floor when barefoot are over.
Since radiant heat is always on, it is constantly heating to a desired temperature. This eliminates feeling hot and then cold often associated with forced air heat.
How much should a typical radiant floor heating system cost?
System costs will vary greatly depending on the installation requirements, control choices, and project size. Simple radiant heat systems in large slabs in temperate zones cost only slightly more than the alternatives. However, if you select the many options and features that radiant can offer your home, the first cost will be higher.
Remember that the principal advantages of radiant are comfort and lower operating costs. You should review your plans and requirements with your installing contractor to get a firm price on a turn-key system.
Does a Radiant house take a long time to heat up from a cold start?
Most radiant floor heat systems take about a day to come up to full temperature. The reason for this is due to how the radiant heating system stores energy. Before a radiant floor can emit energy (heat) into a space, it first has to raise the floor temperature. Depending on the floor construction and the initial floor temperature, this start up time may be anywhere from a few hours to a few days. Slab on grade floors will see the largest start up time, mainly because they will have the highest mass value.
What type of floor construction should I use?
Any type of floor construction can be used with a radiant heat system. The most common will be a slab on grade, or a frame floor. Some variations of these may include a thin slab over a frame floor or a Sandwich application. The important thing to remember is to inform us of the exact construction of the floor. There will be design variations between a frame floor project and a slab on grade. Keep in mind, it is better to design the building for what is required structurally and let the radiant system be designed around the construction details.
What type of floor coverings can be used over a radiant heat system?
Any type of floor construction can be used with a radiant heat system. The most common will be a slab on grade, or a frame floor. Some variations of these may include a thin slab over a frame floor or a Sandwich application. The important thing to remember is to inform us of the exact construction of the floor. There will be design variations between a frame floor project and a slab on grade. Keep in mind, it is better to design the building for what is required structurally and let the radiant system be designed around the construction details.