Wednesday, December 15, 2010

We're floored!



Long ago, the Romans used radiant floor heating in their bathhouses. For centuries, the Koreans heated their royal palaces and traditional homes this way too. Today, the technology to warm our floors and heat our homes has come a long way. 

Basically, radiant floor heating can be electric or hydronic. Hydronic radiant floor heating is a system of plastic tubes laid within a floor that carry hot water, dispersing the heat through the floors surface. The cooler water returns to the heat source where it is reheated and sent out again in what is known as a “closed-loop system”. The pipes are encased in a concrete slab so once they are covered the system is invisible to the eye. The theory on radiant heating is that you don't need to set your thermostats as high to heat the home and for cooling you don't need to go as low. When you have a really tight building envelope and you add things like an on-demand hot water system (and maybe even one day solar hot water), you can significantly reduce your energy costs.


But enough about all the facts and stats - watch our floors get poured and take a peak inside our home!










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