![]() ![]() Measuring less than an inch thick, these slimmer panels facilitate installation within the confines of any existing residential structure.Įlectric radiant systems typically operate on a timer. For instance, Warmboard now offers a line of radiant panels specially designed for retrofit applications. Yet manufacturers are actively engaged in making hydronic systems more accessible. ![]() For that reason, HVAC technicians must be involved from the early planning stage all the way through to final installation. In other words, hydronic systems are substantially more complex. Hydronic systems, in contrast, involve a boiler, pump, and fuel lines as well as panels that slot beneath the floor. All in all, if you were planning to put in a new floor anyway, perhaps as part of a room remodel, then including an electric radiant mat will probably add just modestly to the overall project budget. Likewise, the electrical work requires nothing more than basic know-how, but you’re best off hiring an electrician unless you really know what you’re doing. ![]() Laying the cable can be a do-it-yourself project, as it’s mainly a matter of using thinset to mount the cables on the subfloor. Typically, electric radiant systems include three components-heating cables (often woven into plastic mats), a temperature sensor, and a thermostat. Ultimately, electric radiant heat succeeds as a supplement, but hydronic competes with and surpasses traditional whole-home systems. Whereas forced-air systems heat inconsistently and incompletely, hydronic radiant heat provides encompassing warmth and ensures consistent temperatures from one wall to the other and one room to the next. By circulating boiler-heated water through tubing below the floor, hydronic systems deliver cost-effective heating for the whole home, and offer a qualitatively different experience than forced air. The other type-hydronic radiant heat-works in a completely different way. For that reason, electric radiant systems can be considered a comfort luxury perfect for heating the floor, but not the home. Heating an entire house with electric radiant heat would be exorbitantly expensive, though, given that such setups rely completely on electricity, which-needless to say-doesn’t come cheap. Electrical systems are ideal for providing supplemental heat in a small room, such as a chilly master bathroom, not least because they are easy to install and incur relatively low up-front costs. Electricity heats the cables, and the cables, in turn, heat the floor. One type of radiant system relies on a network of cables installed between the floor and subfloor. There are two main types of radiant heating technologies in common use today, and they could hardly be more different. ![]()
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