Floor Heater Old House

Radiant floor heating has been around for centuries.

Floor heater old house.

Richard trethewey toh s plumbing and heating expert pulls another length of tubing from a decoiler on the basement floor and feeds it to heating contractor john perry who snakes it along a joist bay over his. Radiant heat is a method of heating the floor by using electrical wiring or heated water with the heat then transferred upward thorough the floor and into the rest of the home. That s the appeal of radiant floor heating says this old house plumbing and heating expert richard trethewey who has long been a fan. Loops of white plastic tubing hang suspended like hula hoops in the basement of madeline krauss and paul friedberg s shingle style home the site of this old house tv s newton project.

They produce wonderful heat but they require serpentine runs of plastic tubing water heaters or boilers pumps and manifolds. Old house heating improvements the 19th century brought improved heating and ventilating systems. Most familiar are hydronic systems that heat your entire house. It s truly invisible he says.

The furnaces take up extra space on the ground floor. Floor furnaces are often very inefficient especially in homes that don t have good insulation often true for older southern california homes. They re ideal for whole house heating but professionals suggest installing them during the home s construction because they can be difficult to retrofit if the home isn t already outfitted with the proper equipment. The principle is simple.

But i really wanted to know how to t. A service technician from socal gas came to turn off my old floor heater pilot and inspect my gas appliances for safety. Hydronic floor heating systems use hot water pumped through plastic tubing laid out in a serpentine pattern to heat the floor. Ducted hot air systems appeared in some upscale homes and buildings were warmed with heat generated by huge brick furnaces in the cellar which vented into rooms through floor and baseboard registers usually with decorative rotating vanes to.

The heat distribution is spotty with areas closer becoming too hot and more distant rooms left too cold. They re relatively simple to install in retrofit situations and in new construction because there are no bulky ducts to run. This in depth information from energy govcan help you choose the type of radiant heating that will work best to keep your home toasty warm. Fortunately dry radiant systems can add heat to your floor while sacrificing only about an inch of height in the room.

It s one of the most space effective options for your old house. Baseboard heaters are popular in old and new homes alike and here s why.