Warm Your Home With Radiant Heating
Category: Heating
When outdoor temperatures in the Pittsburgh area drop, a warm home can be a real comfort. Many types of heating systems are available to help homeowners achieve the warm interiors they desire. You are probably familiar with forced-air heating and baseboard heating systems, but a radiant heating system might be a foreign concept.
Radiant heating relies on infrared radiation to warm your living space. Warm water is circulated through a series of pipes laid beneath your floor, within wall panels, or in the ceiling of your home. The warmth of the water is transferred to the floor. This warmth then radiates outward to raise the temperature of the other surfaces within your home.
If you are thinking of investing in a new heating system before the cold weather hits, consider the benefits you will enjoy with access to a radiant heating system.
Energy Efficiency
Protecting the environment is a goal that is becoming increasingly more important to modern homeowners. Reducing the amount of energy used to maintain the comfort of your living space can decrease carbon emissions and help eliminate your reliance on fossil fuels.
A radiant heating system relies on heated water to raise the temperature within your home. These heating systems utilize far less electricity than their competitors. The water remains within a closed system, so no water is wasted during thermal cycles.
A radiant heating system can also reduce energy consumption by eliminating the heat loss that occurs in air ducts. Damaged or detached ducts allow warm air to escape before it is delivered into your home. Your furnace will have to work harder to achieve the desired temperature, resulting in an increase in electrical and fossil fuel usage.
Install a radiant heating system to ensure that your home’s carbon footprint is as small as possible.
Allergy Reduction
Air quality inside of a home can be extremely poor. The same air is often recirculated through a forced-air heating system. This can compromise the quality of the air and result in a spike in symptom severity for family members with allergies who may be living in the home.
Forced-air heating systems also transfer a lot of dust from one room to the next. The hot air being blown from your home’s vents can disturb dust that has settled on the surfaces within your home. When dust particles become airborne, they are more likely to agitate an individual with allergies.
Radiant heating systems do not move any air while heating your home. Leaving the air in your home undisturbed will ensure that allergy symptoms remain more manageable in the future.
Humidity Control
The constant movement of air through your living space that is associated with traditional heating systems can be detrimental to your outward appearance. A certain level of humidity is needed within a home to prevent the skin, hair, and nails from drying out.
Dry indoor air can contribute to a host of medical problems, including the drying of nasal passageways, dryness of the throat, and the narrowing of nasal passageways that may trigger an asthma attack.
Maintaining humidity levels inside your home can also be helpful in preserving the quality and integrity of wood finishes. When a forced-air heating system dries out the air inside your home, moisture in your wood furnishings and architectural finishes will be depleted. This depletion increases the risk of cracking or dry rot.
A radiant heating system does not negatively affect humidity levels indoors, making these types of heating systems the perfect choice for those homeowners who want to maintain control over indoor humidity.
Contact the HVAC professionals at Mitchell Plumbing, Heating & Cooling if you are ready to capitalize on the benefits radiant heating systems can provide.
