[debrajean]

Many people in my area have been telling me that they've put radiant heating in their floors as opposed to standard wall heat. They go on about how much more effiecient it is, but I wonder, is it? Anybody have any thoughts and opinions on this?

[travelforever]

I stayed in a condo that had it and it felt great with the heat coming from below the floor. I don´t know about efficiency but my only thought was if anything went wrong with the system, the whole floor would have to be ripped out.

[Roguegal]

I live in a mobile home and not heat comes from floor vents. Is that the same thing as radiant heating? If not can someone explain a little bit more.

[Timetrvlr]

Roguegal, most mobile homes have a central heating unit that uses either oil or natural gas furnace. A big fan in the furnace unit then distributes the heat throughout via the floor vents. These furnaces are usually located in a central utility room and are usually referred to as "central Heating".

These have an air filter that you must change every three months for maximum efficiency. Lift the front cover of the furnace up and out. You will find the filter (or maybe two). See what size is printed on it and buy a new one at Wal-Mart or some other department store and replace it. Dirty filters cost you money because it makes the heater run longer and work harder. I hope this is helpful.

[Roguegal]

Apparently I put in a word that wasn't meant to be in in my previous post. I have no filters for my heater. I was asking if this was the same as radiant heating? And if it is not could someone explain what radiant heating is. Sorry if I confused everyone. I use a voice recognition system and sometimes it puts words in my mouth and on my page. I do not always catch them. But I thank you for the information any way.

[travelforever]

Not a problem. Perhaps this link can answer your questions on Radiant heating

EERE Consumer's Guide: Radiant Heating

[Roguegal]

Thank you for the link! It gave me a lot more information than I expected. And radiant heating would be fantastic to have if I didn't live in a mobile home. Somehow, I don't think radiant heating was meant to be put in a mobile home. It would be great if it could be.

[Reverend Blair]

Radiant heating is more efficient and more comfortable. My dad's house has it, and it's great.

With forced air, your house gets warm when the furnace cuts in, then cools until the thermostat tells the furnace to kick in again. Radiant heat maintains a steady temperature.

Forced air also creates drafts. As air moves, it cools (there's actually a formula for that, but I don't remember it). Just as importantly, moving air feels cooler than it really is. Those two factors cause the thermostat to get turn up. Radiant floor heating creates no drafts.

Finally, there's the zone thing. With radiant heating, you set up zones with separate thermostats. That allows you to keep the heat down in sections of the house that don't get used much. Forced air systems don't allow for zones. You can block off a vent to a room, which helps, but that's troublesome and not nearly as accurate as turning a thermostat.

The drawback to radiant floor heating is the cost. It's not bad if you are building a new place, or ripping out all of your ceilings and walls, but if you are just replacing a furnace, well, you'd have to rip out your ceilings and walls to install it.

[Roguegal]

Well, there's one thing for sure. If I can ever afford to buy a house I am going to try and get one with radiant heating. It seems I would use less energy with it than with a furnace.

[GreenerPeople]

My parents put radiant heat in their house when they built it. It's very efficient and it's really nice to walk around on a warm floor in the winter. In the coldest part of the winter the boiler that heats the water will only kick in once or twice a day.

They still had to install a very small forced air furnace for days when the temperature drops really fast because it takes a little while for the radiant heat to catch up. The furnace rarely kicks in though.

You actually don't have to rip the floors up to install it. You can install it over existing floors. There are kits available with grooves for the tubing and then you install flooring over top.

The major downside is the cost. If you do it yourself like my dad did then it's not too bad but it can still be expensive.