Don’t Just Throw Away Heat (and Money) -- Opt for Warm Your Floor

Many homeowners wonder how it is that their homes remain cool or even cold in the winter, even when the thermostat is adjusted to 70 degrees (or more)! The answer is quite simple. Most heating systems warm the air to about 70 degrees. Unfortunately, that warm air is responsible for heating all the surroundings as well and that simply does not work. Part of the reason why has to do with the fact that the air cannot warm the cool surfaces of your home. Your floors, furniture, ceilings and windows stay cooler than the air and the air simply cannot heat them. The cool surfaces draw heat away from your body, leaving you shivering. The other major problem is that most heating systems heat very unevenly. Forced air systems, for example, cause your furnace to overheat and then send the hot air through vents. If you are standing by a vent while the furnace is warm, you may be very warm (in fact, too warm) but if you are across the room you will still be chilled.

While that may explain why you are bundled up all winter, even indoors, that does not mean that it has to be that way. Warm Your Floor has a solution that can have you comfortable all winter and can even save you money. You see, unlike most heating systems, heated floors heat your whole floor to 72 or 73 degrees. Your floor becomes like a heat lamp, passing heat to your surrounding objects. With in floor heating, your ceilings, windows, walls and furniture will be warmed and will radiate heat back to you, making you perfectly comfortable, no matter where in the room you are. The air temperature will remain 68 degrees but you will be comfortable enough to stay in bare feet all winter. You will even be able to turn down your heating mat thermostat a few degrees and enjoy savings on your power bill.

In floor heating is being used in many green homes and buildings today because it complements perfectly with solar power and can ensure less power usage as well. Also, unlike forced air systems or some gas heaters, under floor heating does not create or blow around pollution or allergens, so it is much kinder to both your health and the environment.

By their very nature, heated floors can be 20 to 30% more efficient than forced-air heating systems. Partly, this is because forced air systems (and many other types of heating systems) rely on overheating something (such as a furnace or a radiator) in order to generate heat while in floor heating relies on a lower heat continuously. The other reason in floor heating is more efficient is because most heating systems must accumulate heat at the ceiling level before the air in a room is warmed and the heat travels down to the floor. In most forced air system, much costly warmth is lost because it rises quickly to the ceiling. The result is a too-warm head (and sinus woes) and cold feet. With underfloor heating, this simply does not happens, thanks to radiant heat which warms from the bottom up.