Archive for the ‘Radiant Floor Heating’ Category

The Advantages of Radiant Floor Heating in Basements

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Basements can be difficult rooms to heat – unless you have Suntouch floors. With an electric radiant floor heating system, such as Suntouch floor mats, installed in your basement, you can enjoy many benefits:

1) A warmer basement. The main advantage of suntouch floor warming in your basement, of course, is that Suntouch floor heating will make your basement warmer and more comfortable. This is because Suntouch mats work on the principle of radiant heat. Much like an electric blanket, electric floor heat transfers warmth directly to you, keeping you warmer even if the air temperature stays cooler. Plus, floor heating is installed under the entire basement floor, so that every corner of your basement is warm.

2) A larger basement. If you install floor warming mats throughout your home, you’ll be able to get rid of all that heating apparatus, such as the furnace and the overhead ducts, leaving you with a larger basement space. Electric floor heat is virtually invisible, so it does not take up any of your living space.

3) A useable basement space. Installing Suntouch electric floor heating allows you to transform your basement into a useable place for recreation or family time. Install your Suntouch floor system over your basement floor, install hard surface flooring over that and you can enjoy extra space. Thanks to electric floor heat, the space will be cozy and comfortable enough to use every day. You can transform your new basement space into a recreation room, TV room, games room, children’s play room, home office, an extra bedroom, or anything you like. Why waste an entire floor of your home due to bad heating when electric radiant heat floors allow you to use this space just as you like? It’s your home – reclaim your space with radiant heated floors.

4) Easy installation. Suntouch underfloor radiant floor heating is so easy to install that you could do it yourself. It is inexpensive and quick. Even if you have cement stone floors, you can install radiant heated floors in your home. The extensive instructions that come with radiant floor heat systems are easy to understand and will have you enjoying your new electric radiant heat system in no time.

5) Less moisture. Since electric radiant heat floors slowly heat your floors, they rid your basement floors of that cold, damp feeling. In fact, with electric floor heating in your basement, you’ll find it comfortable enough to walk around your basement with bare feet.

6) Savings. Have you been trying to heat your basement with a portable heater? Many homeowners do this because basements are hard to heat, but electric floor heat is both more efficient and more economical. With floor heat, you’ll enjoy warmer floors and a lower power bill, too.

Why Radiant Floor Heat May Be Better for Indoor Air Quality

Friday, April 16th, 2010

If you are worried about dust, dust mites, mold, and other indoor air quality problems, you should be. Studies have consistently shown that the average person breathes in most pollutants and even insecticides indoors. In many homes, the heating system only contributes to the problem, but a radiant floor heating systems can be one solution for providing better indoor air quality.

Traditional heating systems such as natural gas and oil use vents and ducts to transmit hot air all over the house. Unfortunately, mold, dust, and other pollutants can easily get trapped in the ducts and vents, and become distributed with the heat in your home. As well, any impurities in the fuel you use to heat your home will enter your breathing air. In contrast, radiant heated floor systems provide a remarkably clean heating system. There are no vents or ducts to trap dust and allergens; heated floors make use of heating mats, which are safely contained under your floors. Heated floors also use no impure fuel sources that can allow toxins to enter your home. With a floor heating system, you don’t have to worry about getting that extra carbon monoxide monitor because floor heating systems, unlike most traditional heating systems (including oil and natural gas) do not emit toxins when malfunctioning.

Many traditional heating systems also fail to provide superior air quality because they leave cold floors and cold spots in the house. Many homeowners compensate for this by bringing rugs and carpets into the home. While carpets and rugs can make a home cozier, these products also contain serious toxins. New carpets have high levels of volatile organic compounds, carcinogens, and harmful adhesives. Over time, carpets and rugs can trap mold, dust, grime, and even toxins such as insecticides and herbicides (brought in from the outdoors on shoes). Carpets slowly release these added toxins into your breathing air indoors.

In contrast, a radiant heating provides a cleaner alternative. Heated floors leave your floors cozy and warm, so that you can enjoy hard flooring, which is not only easier to clean, but which does not trap mold, dust, and other allergens to the same extent as a carpet. The heating mats used to create your floor heating system are safely installed under your floors, so you never have to worry about them trapping or catching dust. Plus, unlike traditional heating systems, floor heating systems are whisper quiet and produce no odor, so you will never be tempted to use those harsh chemical-laced indoor sprays to cover up the odors associated with a heating system.

Heated Floor Mats

Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

Heated floor mats are easily installed home heating systems that are designed for use under virtually any type of flooring.  Floor heating mats can be installed either by professional installers or contractors, or even by homeowners that have some experience doing general DIY projects.  Electric floor heating mats have many advantages, as they provide an evenly distributed floor heat that works from the ground up.

Floor heating products are designed to provide lasting warmth one room at a time, without the use of complicated mechanical units and baseboard installations.  Most floor heating mats are extremely thin at a mere one sixteenth of an inch, and are exceptionally flexible in terms of installation.  The thin construction of the mats allow them to be installed either underneath a carpet, or under a laminate wood floor without affecting the existing flooring height.  Once installed, the heating mats are connected to a small electrical circuit and are fully controllable by a seven day programmable thermostat that makes it easy to customize the level of warmth for each day of the week.  Upon completing the installation of most floor heating mats, homeowners will discover that the heating mats are virtually maintenance free, and require very little thought to operate.  Furthermore, floor heating systems are impressively economical to use at an average cost of less than one dollar per day for warming a medium sized room.

By creating warmth from the ground up, heated floor mats are able to neutralize cold zones above the floor, often reducing the need for other forms of home heating, and consequently creating savings on monthly energy bills.  The ability of heating mats to produce evenly warmed rooms makes them one of the most energy-efficient methods of room heating, making them a must-have product for any home.