Not traditionally used in heating homes, flat panel radiant heaters are used to heat objects via radiant heat transfer. These radiant heaters have traditionally been used in a variety of industries and applications, such as space heating, drying, curing, and water evaporation. More recently, these heating systems are also gaining popularity in home heating applications as well.

Radiant heaters use different types of emitter surfaces. Choices include: quartz, high-temperature glass, stainless steel, and ceramic tiles. These are all materials that are easily and efficiently used in home applications such as flooring, countertops, and towel racks. Because these items are easily turned into emitter surfaces for radiant heat, they can easily and beautifully be incorporated into home heating applications such as heated floors, walls, and towel racks.

To find out about radiant heaters for your home, check with the folks at warmzone.com. They have a complete product catalog of radiant heating solutions that can accommodate almost any application or budget.

Radiant Heaters Tip: radiant heaters a great way to efficiently heat a home, while maximizing your home’s beauty, but they are very cost effective and easy to install. 

Warmzone.com is a One-Stop Shop for Radiant Heating

Any savvy consumer knows that the internet has a vast vault of stored information on any and all subjects. News, entertainment, music, home improvement, answers to general questions, and all types of product information are just a click away thanks to the modern convenience of web browsing. Products you once considered out of reach or simply too confusing to research are now easy to understand thanks to volumes of information found on the world wide web. One outstanding radiant heat resource is the Radiant Heat Directory. This web page has a comprehensive list of radiant heat links to installation, documentation and radiant heat product information. Warmzone.com is also a great first line of contact when researching radiant heating. Whether you want a heated driveway, radiant heat cables to warm your floors, or roof deicing systems and heat cables to keep your gutters clear of ice dams, Warmzone is a reliable source of radiant heat information.

Warmzone takes pride in knowing details, specifications, and technical aspects of all things related to radiant heat. The experts on hand can answer questions, design radiant heating plans for driveways, floors, or roofs, and give price quotes that are fair and affordable. Installing radiant heat is a simple home improvement that many consumers are finding satisfying because they get a lot of output for minimal input or cost outlay. Radiant heat is an efficient method of home heating and can reduce heating bills and energy bills over the long run. Lucky for us we can surf the web and find answers to most if not all our probing questions in life; including questions about where to find the best radiant heating products and systems. And truth be told, just about all the answers can be found at Warmzone.com. (To speak to a radiant heat expert now, call 888.488.9276.)

What are the Pros and Cons of Radiant Heat and Forced Air Heating Systems?

A room with radiant floor heating will have a very uniform temperature from the ceiling to the floor. Heating a basement floor is an ideal application for a radiant heat system. If you've lived in a house with forced air, you know that you can crank the heat up, but the basement floors will remain chilled. Installing a radiant floor warming system will add comfort and warmth to your lifestyle.

Forced Air Heating	Radiant Floor Heating

Say Goodbye to Annual Heater Maintenance with Heated Floors

You dread it every year; the dreaded heater maintenance. It's been sitting there all summer long, and it's dusty, it's old, and you just don't want to deal with it. Luckily for you, there is a way to put an end to your annual heater maintenance once and for all: radiant floor heating.

Electric radiant floor heating systems are virtually maintenance free. That's right, with absolutely no effort from you, heated floors bring you unparalleled comfort at an affordable price.

Traditional home heating methods require a daunting list of tasks you should perform yearly to keep them running properly. With electric radiant floor heat, however, all of these annual tasks can be eliminated from your schedule.

Comparing some performance features and maintenance tasks of forced air heating and radiant heat systems:

The bottom line is this: You don't have to limit your decision to one heating system. Many homeowners have installed radiant heat simply to supplement their traditional heating systems in an effort to manage their heating costs. Radiant heat can be used to efficiently warm the areas in your house where you spend most of your time, and dramatically reduce the demands of your furnace and blower.

With all the extra costs you rack up with conventional heating system maintenance, perhaps it’s time to consider installing radiant heat. Install floor heating in your home today and see the difference it makes for your wallet and your home.

Radiant Heaters Tip: It is reported that many people waste a lot of energy by not sealing cracks, doors and windows; checking to make sure a home’s insulation is in good shape and replacing it if it’s not is another good way to stop energy waste.

The “Ancient” Art of Sustainable Living

As a current or future radiant heat consumer, you might fancy yourself to be part of a growing trend towards sustainable home heating. What you may not know is that although it is considered an emerging, “modern” trend among residential homeowners, radiant heat technology is actually thousands of years old. 

Ancient ruins of a Roman underfloor heating system.     (Photo courtesy of Silvermel.)

The history of underfloor heating began in 10,000 BC with the Chinese, who used the word “kang”(original meaning, “to dry”) to describe what became known as a heated bed. Inhabitants drafted smoke from fires through stone covered trenches in the floors of their subterranean dwellings. The hot smoke heated the floor stones, radiating into their living spaces. Evidence of heated floors based on this principle were found in 5,000 B.C. in China and Korea.

The Greeks and Romans finessed the process in 500 B.C. with the hypocaust. Literally translated, hypocaust means “heat from below,” from the Greek word hypo meaning below or underneath, and kaiein, to burn or light a fire. This system was more efficient and less evasive than that of its Asian predecessor. It used pillars to raise the floors, creating a space underneath to circulate hot air. Spaces were left inside of the walls so that hot air and smoke from the furnace would pass through enclosed areas underneath the floor and out of flues in the roof, radiating heat through the walls along the way. While the hypocaust was a marked advancement in under floor heating, the process of heating itself was labor-intensive and high in fuel costs, making it a luxury for those living in villas, and at the public baths.

It wasn’t until the 1980s that standards were developed for underfloor heating systems. Five years later, radiant heat became a traditional system in residential buildings in some European and Nordic countries, and began to find its way into non-residential applications. These modern under floor heating systems use either electric resistance elements (electric) or heated fluid flowing in pipes (hydronic) to heat floors. Both can be cast in concrete, placed under the floor covering, or attached directly to the wood sub floor. Either type can be installed as an alternative to forced air to improve home air quality and reduce heating costs associated with fossil fuels, or as a localized system for thermal comfort.

Electric radiant heat marks a growing trend in residential heating. Electric radiant under floor heating systems are less evasive and less costly to install than hydronic systems, which require skilled designers and tradesmen familiar with boilers, circulators, controls, fluid pressures and temperature for proper installation. Electric radiant heat systems are more efficient than hydronic systems. Powered by electricity, radiant heat cables can heat a surface in 30 to 60 seconds, unlike hydronic systems, which may take anywhere from 4-7 hours to heat a surface—a considerable difference in performance. Because there is a boiler involved, hydronic systems may be fueled by natural gas, oil, coal or wood, making them less environmentally friendly and more costly to operate.

Whether you choose electric or hydronic, Warmzone has the experience and expertise to install a radiant heat system that’s right for your home and your budget. Whichever you choose, you’ll have the comfort of knowing you’ve done your part to reduce your carbon footprint, improve your home’s air quality and maintain a warm, comfortable environment for your family. Be sure to visit www.warmzone.com for more information on how Warmzone can customize a sustainable home heating solution just for you!

Heating Systems Tip: With new advances in technology snow melting heating systems for driveways, sidewalks, and patios are more affordable, and economical than you might assume.