How to Install Radiant Floor Heating

Radiant floor heating is an underfloor heating system that uses heat conduction and radiation to warm up your home. Many people are unsure how to install radiant floor heating.

In areas which experience extremely cold temperatures, knowing how to install radiant floor heating will save you a lot of money in comparison to conventional heating systems like electric room heaters. Learning how to install radiant floor heating is not that difficult either.

Radiant floor heating is fitted under the floorboards where it radiates the heat upwards into the room. It can be installed in any room in your home but is most commonly used with tiled floors that can become uncomfortably cold in the winter months.

Radiant floor heating systems emit heat in the form of infrared light waves which carry energy in their photons. As they pass through solid objects, they leave behind this energy, thereby creating warmth. Radiant floor heating is therefore more eco-friendly than other heating systems.

There are two basic types of radiant floor heating, electric and hydronic. As well as knowing how to install radiant floor heating, you need to decide which system is best for you.

Electric radiant floor heating consists of a grid of wires installed beneath the floor through which an electric current passes with the heat then being transferred upwards in waves. Hydronic radiant floor heating consists of tubes built into the floor through which hot water passes. This system requires a boiler and a pump to heat and circulate the water.

Let us now look in more detail at how to install radiant floor heating.

Measure the floor area and cut the material to the correct length before rolling it out and stapling it into place. Now join the wire ends which are not insulated to the wire which provides the power using a crimper and a tinned copper sleeve. Cover the ends with electrical tape. It is important to keep joints away from the insulation. You can do this by laying concrete over it.

Radiant floor heating is a good for people who are bothered by the noise of air circulation systems.