Radiant heat pros and cons.

The Limitations to Radiant Heat

There is an important limitation to radiant heating. Because the system does not use conventional air ducts, cool air conditioning in the summer is not possible with a radiant floor heating system.

Cooling a home or office in warm weather will require a separate strategy. The easiest way to add air conditioning is to install a traditional forced air system alongside the radiant floor heating system. This would allow for normal cooling and provide a backup heating system—both for redundancy and for quick heating on those occasional cool Fall and Spring nights when firing up the high mass radiant floor system might not be justified.

Recently, smaller cooling systems have been introduced that allow forced air cooling without installing a whole house ducting system. These units are generically known as mini-split ductless systems. If your home requires cooling but you would rather not install a whole house system, we invite you to take a look at this website.

Design is the Key

A successful radiant heat system starts with a proper design. The best time to begin thinking about your heating system is when you start the design of your home. The choices you make for the structural floor and the floor finish can have a dramatic effect on system performance. If you’re building from the ground up or planning an extensive remodel, contact Alternative Energy Systems. Let us perform a heat load estimate and incorporate the calculations into a system design that will work for you.