Radiant Flooring
Aren’t you tired of stepping out of bed or out of the shower onto an ice cold floor all winter? Really, there’s nothing nicer than having a comfortably warmed floor under your feet. And now you can have just that whenever you’d like.
With radiant flooring from Emerald Aire, you’ll get a warm and comfortable surface to walk on that will provide a pleasant heating level to your entire home. There are several different types of radiant flooring that you can have installed in your Tacoma, WA area home, and the particulars of your situation will determine which type makes the most sense for you.
These systems can also be installed in a variety of ways, so it can be helpful to talk to a professional before deciding what the best product and installation method for your home will be. Here at Emerald Aire Heating & Air Conditioning, we’re happy to walk you through the process and help you determine which type of flooring and installation method will be right for you.
Electric Radiant Heating
One type of radiant flooring relies on electricity to generate heat. While this is practical in some smaller scale installations, it may not be a cost-effective way to heat your entire home. However, with the proper installation methods and if your electricity company offers certain off-peak discounts, you may be able to incorporate electric radiant flooring without generating too much of an increase in your monthly energy bills.
Radiant Heating With Air
Radiant flooring systems that use air as the medium for heat transportation and transfer may be appropriate under certain circumstances, but they aren’t generally the most energy efficient method for heating a large portion of your home either. These types of systems can sometimes be paired with some type of solar power to provide cheap heating at certain times of day and of the year, but the amount of heat lost from the air during the transfer makes this system quite costly to maintain using conventional heat sources.
Radiant Water Heating
By far the most popular type of radiant flooring on the market today is that which uses water to disperse the heat throughout your home. With this type of system, your boiler will heat the water, which is then run through a series of small tubes beneath your floor.
Heating water for this purpose is no more expensive than heating water for a traditional radiator system or really any other purpose, so radiant flooring that uses water to disperse the heat is actually a very economical option. Of course, the installation can be pricey, but once that’s over with, you can enjoy the benefits of it for many years to come.
Radiant Heating Installation
In general, there are two installation techniques that can be used to install radiant flooring. One involves embedding the heating tubing or coils in a thick slab of concrete. This allows you to take advantage of the fact that concrete will hold the heat for quite some time, providing a steady supply of heat to your home even when the system isn’t actively running.
However, if you’re having your radiant flooring installed in an area of your home that doesn’t rest directly on the ground, you will have to make use of a thinner layer of concrete. It’s also possible that extra structural supports will need to be added to accommodate the extra weight of the radiant flooring system and concrete.
Radiant Heating Experts
Because the installation of this type of system is rather complicated and requires a good deal of technical knowledge, you’re best off having a professional service do the work for you. Here at Emerald Aire, we’re very experienced with these types of projects and can give you expert advice on what type of radiant flooring and installation method will work best in your home.
So if live in the King and Pierce County, Washington area and you’re interested in learning more about this type of heating system, give us a call today. We’ll be happy to answer all of your questions and get you on the right track towards heating your home with a top of the line radiant flooring system.