Thin slab radiant heat is a heating system that gets installed by Kew Forest Plumbing professionals into the actual flooring of your house. Thin slab radiant heat is a thin slab of material (usually concrete) with a heating element (usually a hot water pipe) running throughout. This thin slab radiant heat then rests atop your sub-floor. Thin slab radiant heat is a comfortable, energy-efficient way to heat your home. It has other benefits as well.
Thin Slab Radiant Heat Provides Comfort
Many systems heat the air in a room in order to maintain a temperature. A radiant floor system heats the surfaces in a room, radiating that warmth into the air rather than blowing warm air outwards. Warm surfaces versus warm air being blown out can lower the temperature at which most people feel comfortable by 3 to 5 degrees, since the warmer temperatures are at feet and leg heights. The closer you get to the ceiling, the lower the temperature gets which reduces the amount of warm air being lost through ceiling insulation, thus lowering your heating cost.
Thin Slab Radiant Heat Is Invisible
Every occupied building in North America needs a heating source. However, room space can be at a premium if you cannot put certain furniture in certain places because the wall-heater or floor register is there. A thin slab radiant heat system does not hog up the floor because it is the floor! Without having to worry about heat-emitting devices, you can now design your room in whatever manner is aesthetically pleasing to you or your clients.
Thin Slab Radiant Heat Is Silent
Some heating systems can be surprisingly noisy when they turn on. There’s either the quick puff of a flame turning on followed by a steady hiss or else the electronic buzz of heating elements and fans. A thin slab radiant heat system has its boiler quietly out of the way in another room, removed from the occupied spaces. The result is a warmth that quietly improves the room temperature without disturbing you.
Thin Slab Radiant Heat Is Clean
One of the problems with air-circulating heating units is the tendency to blow dust and allergens around. For people with health issues or sensitive systems, this can turn the prospect of warming a room into a nightmare of irritations. The thin slab radiant heat systems do not blow air or agitate particles, which keeps allergy symptoms from getting aggravated.
Thin Slab Radiant Heat Is Durable
Installed into a concrete slab, the system is as durable as the floor itself. This makes it ideal for high-traffic areas, such as garage floors, rec rooms, and other floors that take a harder than average beating. As long as the concrete gets properly insulated from the earth itself, thin slab radiant heat systems are known to have extremely high life-expectancies.
Thin Slab Radiant Heat Is Cost Effective
Saving in energy usage can vary from building to building. Conservative estimates are at 10-20%, but some have reported savings as high as 50%. By being able to keep interior comfort at lower temperatures, avoiding pressurization of rooms (which leads to high leakage), reducing temperature stratification and operating at lower water temperatures, the savings come from many different factors.
Radiant heat sources will continue to be the benchmark by which all other heating sources get measured by in terms of efficiency, cost, and reliability. As energy costs rise, they will continue to keep operating costs at a minimum while delivering exceptional comfort.
For more information on thin slab radiant heat systems, contact Kew Forest Plumbing today!
