What is Hydronic Heating?
Simply put, hydronic heating is a system that uses water as a medium to transfer heat. Water is heated in a boiler and pumped through a radiant loop system, panel radiators, towel warmers, etc., to deliver heat when and where it is needed.
Radiant heating is in-floor hydronic heating – a system that circulates hot water through pipes within a floor or under a floor. The energy disperses evenly to comfortably warm your home. Imagine walking barefoot on a wood or tile floor, and feeling warmth on your feet.
Radiant floor heating doesn’t heat the air; it radiates energy from the floor warming the first 5 to 6 feet where people are. The warmth radiates through the floor, and releases energy only after contact with a cooler object – a person or piece of furniture.
Advantages of Radiant Heating
In-floor radiant heating systems offer many advantages over forced-air systems including economic, comfort, aesthetic and health benefits.
Economic Advantages
You can enjoy a warm, cozy home with cost-effective, high-efficiency hydronic radiant heat. A radiant heating system:
- is more energy efficient than forced air systems.
- helps reduce fuel costs.
- uses small tubing that loses less heat to its surroundings than air ducts.
- utilizes a circulating pump with lower power demands than a forced air blower.
- can be zoned by room to reduce heat loss and fuel consumption.
Thermal Comfort Advantages
Our feet serve as our body’s primary thermostat, so when they are cold – we are cold. With radiant heat, your feet are warm so you feel warm even with a thermostat set at 65-68 degrees. Other benefits include:
- Temperature zoning, so that you can have a cool bedroom and a warm bathroom, increasing both conservation and comfort.
- Comfort can be achieved at a lower temperature, due to controlled natural heat loss.
- Rooms heat evenly, as radiant heat turns entire floors into heat sources.
- Children and pets love the comfort of warm, radiant floors.
Domestic Hot Water Advantages
Hydronic heating can be integrated with your water heater for a home’s regular hot water supply, and can:
- meet large hot water demands, for example if two bathrooms are used at the same time.
- be combined with a hot water recirculation system to increase efficiency and comfort.
Aesthetic Advantages
Because radiant heat comes from the floor, no hardware needs to be installed in the walls as in a forced-air system. Room aesthetics are not compromised and furniture placement is not limited. Radiant heating also:
- makes virtually no detectable sound in living areas.
- is versatile enough to be used in new construction and retrofits.
- is compatible with nearly any type of floors or floor covering (tile, concrete, hardwood, carpet, linoleum, marble) giving you more design flexibility.
- does not require visible heating hardware. There are no ugly air ducts to hide, and it takes up no wall space.
Health Advantages
Because radiant heat does not rely on air circulation, it doesn’t stir up dust particles and allergens. Radiant heat:
- actually reduces air-borne allergens (studies show 50-80% dust mite reduction).
- uses emitters that induce almost imperceptible air circulation, and this reduced air movement helps those with allergies and other respiratory conditions.
Technical Advantages
• minimal maintenance is required – no annual duct cleaning.
• can work in nearly any type of structure and floor plan.
Applications and Options
In addition to in-floor radiant heat, hydronic heating has other applications for home comfort. Other options for hydronic heating include fin-tube baseboards, radiant wall and ceiling panels, towel-warmer radiators, and panel radiators – including designer panel radiators that look more like pieces of art than heat emitters.
New products are being introduced all the time. O’Dowd works with the top manufacturers, and can show you the many options available to suit your individual preferences and needs. Schedule an appointment to visit our Hydronics Showroom to see working models of some of these applications.
Hydronics Showroom
With our beginnings in Western Europe, O’Dowd Plumbing has 35 years of experience designing and installing radiant heating systems. At our offices we have created a showroom where various types of in-floor radiant heating materials are set up as working models, along with the other equipment that make up the systems. Make an appointment to visit our showroom to see…and feel…for yourself how radiant heating systems work.