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November 11, 2007 00:11 AM  BY WARMZONE
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Radiant heaters,
as opposed to warm air systems (such as a forced air
unit heaters), deliver the source of heat to the floor
level, not the ceiling. And since warm air rises,
heating the floors proves to be the most efficient
means of heating living areas.
Radiant heaters
or radiant energy is the oldest form of heating used to
provide comfort and is the basis for all heating systems.
Radiant energy is totally pure radiation and is
absorbed by an object without physical contact with
the heat source or by heating the surrounding air, as is the
case with convective, forced air systems.
Under floor
heaters were first used by the Romans. Initially the
preserve of the rich, under floor heating became
increasingly commonplace in public buildings and
villas, particularly in the colder regions of the
Roman Empire. The Roman system was based on hypocausts,
comprising ducts that underlay the floor (itself built
on raised brick piles) and flues that were built into
walls. Hot air or steam from fires circulated up
through this system, warming the floor and walls, with heat
passing into the rooms.
More
specifically, the floor was laid out as series of concrete
slabs acting as radiant heaters supported by columns
of layered tiles, with a furnace at the bottom of one
exterior wall. By placing the fire here, the draught
would take the radiant heat under the floor, and up through
the walls to radiant heater chimneys located in the
corners of the room.
Today we
recognize the brilliance of the Romans and Koreans as early
adopters of radiant heating, as the technology is still a
desired method for delivering comfortable and
efficient heat in our homes. Now we have radiant
heaters using electric resistance cables that are
constructed of highly rated materials and feature
manufacturer warranties of up to 25 years.
About Warmzone
Warmzone provides consumers with
energy-efficient, radiant heating solutions for homes
and businesses. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah,
Warmzone's electricians and radiant heat experts will help
you determine the best radiant heating solution,
ranging from electric heated floors to large
commercial snow and ice melt projects. Send us a plan or
drawings and we'll be happy to provide you with a
FREE estimate
and options for your
roof
heating and ice melting
project.
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December 16, 2008 00:12 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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With the high cost of heating fuels today, many
homeowners are wondering what other heating
options there are out there. Quite simply put,
radiant
heaters are the most efficient form of heat
available in today’s market.
Significantly less operating time is required to attain
and maintain the desired warmth compared to
furnaces and other, traditional methods of
heating, which keeps operational costs to a minimum.
High efficiency boilers or
electric radiant floor systems makes radiant
heat one of your most efficient ways to heat your
home. Combined with a well-insulated home these
systems can quickly warm your home and then shut
down or wait idle for long periods of time before being
called upon by the thermostat to operate.
More than ever before,
homebuilders, househunters, and home renovators
alike are looking for energy-efficient heating options
for houses. We say they need look no further
than radiant
heaters for their ideal home heating solution.
Radiant Heaters Tip: It might take a
little effort, but being more environmentally
friendly doesn’t have to involve major
renovations. 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 surefire way to stop, prevent, and reverse
energy waste.
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December 29, 2008 00:12 AM  BY ROBERT COHEN
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The Mystery
Warranty
How much
do you really know about the warranties offered
by manufacturers? Sure it may say “25 Year
Warranty” on the package, but what exactly does that
mean? Most manufacturers of radiant heating systems
offer a warranty, but a 25 year warranty isn’t
always better than a 10 year warranty and this is why:
I chose the
Danfoss GX electric radiant heat cables to build an asphalt
heated driveway at my residence. The heat of the asphalt
combined with heavy weight, caused me to wonder how
the GX cables were going to hold up, and what would
happen if a problem occurred. I was pleased to
discover that Danfoss products have a 10 year warranty, that
covers up to 5 times the cost of original
installation. Why is this exciting? Because the
failure of a radiant heating system isn’t like a
vacuum cleaner breaking down, you can’t throw
it in your car and bring it back to the store for a
refund. Fixing a severed cable requires tearing up the
surface of the driveway – or in the case of indoor
radiant heating, tearing up your brand new tiles or
wood flooring. The process of tearing up a floor or
driveway is time consuming and costly, not to mention
annoying. Many manufacturers will replace the bad product,
but you still have to pay out of your own pocket to
tear up the floor and hire someone to fix the problem.
Danfoss is so
sure that you won’t have any problems, their warranty
is the best offered by radiant heat manufacturers. Not
only do you get brand new Danfoss product, but they
will cover the cost of floor removal, and
reinstallation (up to 5 times the cost of the original
installation). So when you install your radiant floor
or driveway, you can rest easy knowing that unexpected
problems are already covered.
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December 22, 2008 00:12 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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Are your eyes so tired from all the research
you’ve been doing because you’re
looking to warm your floors with radiant
heaters? We know, it sometimes can be hard to narrow
down what kind of radiant
heaters to install. There are dozens of products
available to purchase, and there are even more
companies telling you that their product is the
best.
For many homeowners, electric
cable heating systems, often called line- or
high-voltage systems, are gaining popularity and are
ideal for heating smaller areas like bathrooms,
kitchens, and sun rooms. These systems are
comprised of a thermostat and a heating cable. These radiant
heater systems are oftentimes less expensive, and
give the ability to customize a layout that will
heat every square inch of your floor.
Every available radiant heater
cable system is equally effective, so when
determining which system to purchase, you should look at
the warranty of the product, along with the ease
of installation. Some cables must be embedded in
a separate layer of concrete or mortar, whereas
other systems can simply be installed in the thinset.
Most radiant
heater cable systems can only be installed under
tile. However, on others, if the cable is
embedded in mortar or concrete, any flooring can
be installed on top of the concrete.
Radiant Heaters Tip:
When heating smaller areas, it is nearly
impossible to beat the simplicity and price of an
electric cable radiant
heating system.
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December 24, 2008 00:12 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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What a pain! If
you or anyone in your family has asthma or dust
allergies, you know all too well how miserable these
ailments can make a person. Many allergy and asthma
experts will advise certain changes in housekeeping
habits to help alleviate allergy- or asthma-causing
conditions in your home. In addition, you might consider
changing your heat source to radiant heaters.
At first glance, you might not think that
radiant heaters could be such a simple solution to
helping keep your home healthy. In reality, radiant
heaters improve the air quality, which is important,
especially for anyone who suffers from either dust
allergies or asthma. Not having to change air filters
or clean heating ducts should also cut down
dramatically on dust or other allergens in your
home’s air.
Eliminating dust mites that live in your home
would also go a long way towards helping keep your
home healthy. Since dust mites love a warm moist
environment, towel heaters and other radiant heater systems
aid in maintaining a consistent room temperature and
keep it moisture-free…and dust mite-free,
too. Furthermore, mold and mildew are also caused
from excessive moisture especially in bathrooms with
insufficient ventilation.
Radiant Heater Tip: By placing radiant
heaters or a radiant heat towel rack in the bathroom
you can combat the spread of germs for only pennies a
day.
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November 29, 2008 00:11 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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With the current housing market being so
unpredictable, we’re seeing an increasing
number of homeowners are opting to stay put in their
homes, rather than buy a new home. They find
that one way to make their current home a better
fit for them is to remodel the kitchen or
bathroom, or upgrade the home’s heating systems.
While there isn’t a single heating
system out there that is an ideal fit for every
project, there is an ideal system for every
project. Warmzone.com can provide you with the
heating
systems you desire, as well as consult with you on
which systems would be the best fit for your
project.
Hydronic under floor heating
systems are some of the most popular forms of
radiant heat. In the most recent hydronic
heating systems, PEX radiant tubing has been
installed in a concrete mass called Gypsum Concrete or
“Gypcrete.” This method of heating
system installation works very well in most
applications, but there have been developments
in the installation process of hydronic under
floor heating that make it easier to install for certain
situations. This new development is known as a
low-mass or modular board underlayment system.
Rather than embedding the hot water tubing in
concrete, the PEX tubing is laid in the grooves of
pre-cut wood panels. This new method is ideal
for remodeling and most new construction
projects.
Heating System Tip: The hydronic
under-floor heating
system was first used by the Romans; there have
obviously been significant developments since
that time.
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December 13, 2008 00:12 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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Recently John Thiffault of Carriage Lane
Homes wasrecognized by the Canada Mortgage
and Housing Corporation for building homes that
maximize health and efficiency.So what is
it about Thiffault’s homes that set them apart
from other homes, and make them safer and more
efficient?Well, Radiant
Heaters are one way.
Health Benefits.
Radiant
heaters improve the air quality, which is important,
especially for anyone who suffers from either
dust allergies or asthma. The heated towel rails
provide ample heat alleviating a breeding ground for
germs to multiply not to mention the added
benefit of not having change filters or clean
heat ducts.
Health experts also claim that
radiant heaters can help in eliminating dust
mites that live in our homes, and since dust mites love
a warm moist environment, towel heaters aid in
maintaining a consistent room temperature and
keep it moisture free. Furthermore, mold and mildew are
also caused from excessive moisture especially in
bathrooms with insufficient
ventilation.By placing radiant heaters or a
radiant heat towel rack in the bathroom you can combat
the spread of germs for only pennies a day.
Efficiency. Radiant
heaters are the most efficient form of heat
available. Significantly less operating time is
required to maintain the desired warmth compared
to furnaces and other methods of heating keeping
operational costs to a minimum. High efficiency boilers
or electric radiant floor systems makes radiant
heat one of your most efficient ways to heat
your home. Coupled with a well insulated home these
systems can quickly warm your home and then shut down or
wait idle for long periods of time before being
called upon by the thermostat to operate.
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December 19, 2008 00:12 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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Hydronic under floor heating are the most
popular form of radiant heaters. This is mainly
because these radiant
heaters have been around the longest. This form of
heating was first used by the Romans, but there
have been significant developments since. In the
most recent hydronic systems, PEX radiant tubing has
been installed in a concrete mass called Gypsum
Concrete or “Gypcrete.” This
method works very well in most applications, but there
have been developments in the installation
process of hydronic under floor radiant
heaters that make it easier to install for certain
situations. This new development is known as a
low-mass or modular board underlayment system.
Rather than embedding the hot water tubing in concrete,
the PEX tubing is laid in the grooves of pre-cut
wood panels. This new method is ideal for
remodeling and most new construction projects.
If you’d like to know more about both types of
hydronic heating systems, contact the expert staff at
warmzone.com. They can help
match your individual project with the best system at the
best price. There isn’t a single system out
there that is an ideal fit for every project, but
there is an ideal system for every project. Also,
because of the relationship that warmzone.com has with the
manufacturers, they can guarantee the lowest price on
the highest quality systems available.
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November 20, 2007 00:11 AM  BY WARMZONE
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Heating systems
for homes and businesses are faced with an increasing
number of options to consider for their primary and
secondary heating. While fire places and coal burning
stoves become less popular, other alternative heating
methods are quickly becoming more common. Traditional
furnaces as a primary heating system are now being
challenged from radiant baseboards, radiant floor
heating systems and even radiant ceiling heaters. Many
of these new heating systems are using electricity
instead of natural gas or heating oil.
Space heaters are
also becoming a less expensive option to upgrading a
poorly insulated home or to add supplemental heat to cold
areas. Thermostone heaters and
heated
towel warmers
from
Climastar
mount to a wall and are a couple of heating
systems that have been commonly used in Europe for decades
are now gaining acceptance in the United States. Many
interior designers are adopting these electric heating
systems as fashionable accessories to bathrooms,
basements and home offices.
A common
challenge to traditional heating systems is the inability to
zone your home for specific areas of the home without
heating the entire home. Electric radiant heating
systems can be easily designed to be independently
controlled by zone which enables a home owner to increase
the temperature for defined areas of the home during
occupancy and conversely allows a particular zone to
remain off during down times. This strategy not only
saves the home owner money, it gives you complete
control to efficiently warm you most used living spaces
without comprising cost.
Choosing the best
heating system for a new home or to add supplemental
heat to a cold spot in your home now takes a little
homework. The radiant consultants and designers at
Warmzone have been trained in all of the latest
heating systems to properly assess your project and
prescribe a system that will add value to your home
inside of your budget. Contact us by phone or email to
learn more about your home heating goals and we will
sell you a heating system that works for you.
About Warmzone
Warmzone provides consumers with
energy-efficient, radiant heating solutions for homes
and businesses. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah,
Warmzone's electricians and radiant heat experts will help
you determine the best radiant heating solution,
ranging from electric heated floors to large
commercial snow and ice melt projects. Send us a plan or
drawings and we'll be happy to provide you with a
FREE estimate
and options for your
roof
heating and ice melting
project.
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December 21, 2008 00:12 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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In today’s volatile and topsy-turvy
housing market, it’s not a bad idea to
add value to your home in new and innovative
ways.Don’t just think about renovating a
bathroom, consider using radiant
heaters to warm towel racks in the bathroom, or a
heated floor.Can you think of anything
cozier on a chilly winter morning than toasty
toes when you step out of the shower?
Not only is radiant heating is
one of the most comfortable ways to heat your
home, but radiant heaters also offer a surprisingly wide
diversity of applications. Radiant
heaters can be used in a number of applications,
including in tiled areas, hardwood flooring,
carpeted areas, cement floors, basements, and
garages.
Radiant
heaters are a type of heater that warms objects
instead of air. Radiant heat uses objects, such
as the floor, to heat a home. The air in the
room is warmed when it comes into contact with the
warmed objects. Heat loss is reduced and the
radiant heat remains in the lower part of the
room, warmer near feet level and slightly less so at
head level, creating the perfect climate for
comfort.
Radiant Heaters Tip:
The variety of high efficiency boilers or
electric radiant floor systems makes radiant
heat one of your most efficient ways to heat your home.
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