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November 11, 2007 00:11 AM  BY WARMZONE
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Radiant heaters,
as opposed to warm air systems (such as a forced air
unit heaters), deliver the source of heat to the floor
level, not the ceiling. And since warm air rises,
heating the floors proves to be the most efficient
means of heating living areas.
Radiant heaters
or radiant energy is the oldest form of heating used to
provide comfort and is the basis for all heating systems.
Radiant energy is totally pure radiation and is
absorbed by an object without physical contact with
the heat source or by heating the surrounding air, as is the
case with convective, forced air systems.
Under floor
heaters were first used by the Romans. Initially the
preserve of the rich, under floor heating became
increasingly commonplace in public buildings and
villas, particularly in the colder regions of the
Roman Empire. The Roman system was based on hypocausts,
comprising ducts that underlay the floor (itself built
on raised brick piles) and flues that were built into
walls. Hot air or steam from fires circulated up
through this system, warming the floor and walls, with heat
passing into the rooms.
More
specifically, the floor was laid out as series of concrete
slabs acting as radiant heaters supported by columns
of layered tiles, with a furnace at the bottom of one
exterior wall. By placing the fire here, the draught
would take the radiant heat under the floor, and up through
the walls to radiant heater chimneys located in the
corners of the room.
Today we
recognize the brilliance of the Romans and Koreans as early
adopters of radiant heating, as the technology is still a
desired method for delivering comfortable and
efficient heat in our homes. Now we have radiant
heaters using electric resistance cables that are
constructed of highly rated materials and feature
manufacturer warranties of up to 25 years.
About Warmzone
Warmzone provides consumers with
energy-efficient, radiant heating solutions for homes
and businesses. Based in Salt Lake City, Utah,
Warmzone's electricians and radiant heat experts will help
you determine the best radiant heating solution,
ranging from electric heated floors to large
commercial snow and ice melt projects. Send us a plan or
drawings and we'll be happy to provide you with a
FREE estimate
and options for your
roof
heating and ice melting
project.
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November 03, 2008 00:11 AM  BY RILEY PETERSON
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Danfoss offers a
myriad of cables for all kinds of projects, but figuring
out the differences can be pretty tricky. I won’t go
into technical details here, rather go over some basic
differences that will help you choose which cable to
use for which project.
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Danfoss LX Cable
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Interior Cable, best for
tile, marble, and slate flooring |
A thin 3/16-inch diameter
electric radiant heating cable made
specifically for tile installations. Because of the
thinness of the cable, it can go directly
into the tile thin-set (thin-set must not
be more than ¼” thick or else it will
crack the tile). |
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Danfoss TX Cable
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Interior Cable, tile, marble,
hardwood, slate |
A thicker ¼-inch
diameter radiant heating cable, made to be installed
directly into concrete slab. The thickness of the
cable makes it more durable to withstand
heavier concrete pours. |
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Danfoss GX Cable
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Outdoor Cable, concrete,
asphalt, brick pavers |
A thick ¼-inch diameter
radiant heating cable, made for use in
outdoor driveway, walkway, and sidewalk snow
melting. Heavy cable built to withstand
concrete pours and hot asphalt. |
All of the
Danfoss products give you the option of choosing between
individual cable in lengths (it comes on a roll) or in
woven mats, which has the cable rows pre-spaced and
makes installation much quicker and easier. The only
difficulty with the radiant mats is that it works best
with rectangular areas; however, the mat can be cut to
accommodate corners and custom layouts. (Just don't
cut the heat cable!) If you have a
complicated, odd shaped area to heat, you may
be better off with installing the individual
heating cable.
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December 20, 2008 00:12 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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Not traditionally
used in heating homes, flat panel radiant
heaters are used to heat objects via radiant heat
transfer. These radiant heaters have traditionally
been used in a variety of industries and applications,
such as space heating, drying, curing, and water
evaporation. More recently, these heating systems are also
gaining popularity in home heating applications as well.
Radiant
heaters use different types of emitter surfaces. Choices
include: quartz, high-temperature glass, stainless
steel, and ceramic tiles. These are all materials that
are easily and efficiently used in home applications
such as flooring, countertops, and towel racks. Because
these items are easily turned into emitter surfaces for
radiant heat, they can easily and beautifully be
incorporated into home heating applications such as
heated floors, walls, and towel racks.
To find out about radiant heaters for your home,
check with the folks at warmzone.com. They have a
complete product catalog of radiant heating solutions
that can accommodate almost any application or budget.
Radiant Heaters Tip: radiant heaters a great way
to efficiently heat a home, while maximizing your
home’s beauty, but they are very cost effective
and easy to install.
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December 25, 2008 00:12 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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For anyone who is looking for a great way to
save energy, and maximize comfort, then radiant
heaters may be the ideal solution. Installing radiant
heaters in a home under construction or in an
existing home is proven to cut heating costs. It
works by putting water lines in the
home’s concrete floors or under existing floors
and running hot water through them. Radiant
heaters help to keep the whole house at a more
constant temperature. In this way, our regular heaters
don’t have to do as much to keep things
warm and toasty during the winter.
You’ll find that
switching to Radiant
heaters will not only help save energy and lower
heating costs, but it will certainly add to
comfort as well. That is because it put the heat
at our feet, which are generally cold, and offers cooler
air near head level, where we are generally a
little warmer.
Many times, what first springs
to mind when people think of eco-friendly energy
and heating is solar power. While solar panels are
expensive, there are other eco-friendly ways to cut your
power bill. In fact, energy savings can be found
right beneath your feet:
radiant
heaters.
Radiant Heaters Tip: It is reported that
many people waste a lot of energy by not sealing
cracks, doors and windows; checking to make sure a
home’s insulation is in good shape and replacing it
if it’s not is another good way to stop energy
waste.
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December 11, 2008 00:12 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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Have you ever
gone on a ski vacation for the weekend and stayed at a
little ski lodge? A lot of the times, they’ll have a
huge fireplace in the main room with smaller bedrooms
up in the loft area or second-story. But the problem
is that when you’re in the main room with the roaring
fire, you’re often overwhelmed by the heat and
retreat to the bedroom, where it’s far
chillier. You see, many vacation or weekend homes
weren’t built with air conditioning ducts with
which to deliver the heat to the different rooms of
the house. However, there is a solution to adding
heating to homes that have not been built for traditional
forced air systems: radiant heaters.
As opposed to warm air systems (such as a forced
air unit heaters), radiant heaters deliver the source
of heat to the floor level, not the ceiling. Radiant
heaters or radiant energy is the oldest form of heating
used to provide comfort and is the basis for all
heating systems.
Additionally, radiant heaters also offer more
comfort than forced air heating by heating the
atmosphere from the ground up. Since heat rises, the
heat will be more evenly distributed, providing a much more
comfortable atmosphere.
Radiant Heaters Tip: Radiant energy is
totally pure radiation and is absorbed by an object
without physical contact with the heat source or by
heating the surrounding air, as is the case with
convective, forced air systems.
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December 22, 2008 00:12 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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Are your eyes so tired from all the research
you’ve been doing because you’re
looking to warm your floors with radiant
heaters? We know, it sometimes can be hard to narrow
down what kind of radiant
heaters to install. There are dozens of products
available to purchase, and there are even more
companies telling you that their product is the
best.
For many homeowners, electric
cable heating systems, often called line- or
high-voltage systems, are gaining popularity and are
ideal for heating smaller areas like bathrooms,
kitchens, and sun rooms. These systems are
comprised of a thermostat and a heating cable. These radiant
heater systems are oftentimes less expensive, and
give the ability to customize a layout that will
heat every square inch of your floor.
Every available radiant heater
cable system is equally effective, so when
determining which system to purchase, you should look at
the warranty of the product, along with the ease
of installation. Some cables must be embedded in
a separate layer of concrete or mortar, whereas
other systems can simply be installed in the thinset.
Most radiant
heater cable systems can only be installed under
tile. However, on others, if the cable is
embedded in mortar or concrete, any flooring can
be installed on top of the concrete.
Radiant Heaters Tip:
When heating smaller areas, it is nearly
impossible to beat the simplicity and price of an
electric cable radiant
heating system.
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December 27, 2008 00:12 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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When the first day of winter arrived over the
weekend, it brought along cold weather and the
potential for incredibly high heating bills.
Installing radiant
heaters in a home under construction or in an
existing home is proven to cut heating costs. It
works by putting water lines in the
home’s concrete floors or under existing floors
and running hot water through them.
Radiant
heaters help to keep the whole house at a more
constant temperature. In this way, our regular
heaters don’t have to do as much to keep
things warm and toasty during the winter. It might take
a little effort, but being more environmentally
friendly doesn’t have to involve major
renovations. Many people waste a lot of energy by not
sealing cracks, doors and windows. Checking to make sure
a home’s insulation is in good shape and
replacing it if it’s not is another good
way to stop energy waste.
Switching to radiant
heaters will not only help save energy, and lower
heating costs, but you’ll soon find that
it really adds to your family’s comfort as
well. That is because it put the heat at our feet, which
are generally cold, and offers cooler air near
head level, where we are generally a little
warmer.
Radiant Heaters Tip:
If you are looking for a great way to save
energy and maximize comfort in your home at the same
time, then radiant
heaters may be the perfect solution for you.
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November 29, 2008 00:11 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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With the current housing market being so
unpredictable, we’re seeing an increasing
number of homeowners are opting to stay put in their
homes, rather than buy a new home. They find
that one way to make their current home a better
fit for them is to remodel the kitchen or
bathroom, or upgrade the home’s heating systems.
While there isn’t a single heating
system out there that is an ideal fit for every
project, there is an ideal system for every
project. Warmzone.com can provide you with the
heating
systems you desire, as well as consult with you on
which systems would be the best fit for your
project.
Hydronic under floor heating
systems are some of the most popular forms of
radiant heat. In the most recent hydronic
heating systems, PEX radiant tubing has been
installed in a concrete mass called Gypsum Concrete or
“Gypcrete.” This method of heating
system installation works very well in most
applications, but there have been developments
in the installation process of hydronic under
floor heating that make it easier to install for certain
situations. This new development is known as a
low-mass or modular board underlayment system.
Rather than embedding the hot water tubing in
concrete, the PEX tubing is laid in the grooves of
pre-cut wood panels. This new method is ideal
for remodeling and most new construction
projects.
Heating System Tip: The hydronic
under-floor heating
system was first used by the Romans; there have
obviously been significant developments since
that time.
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December 12, 2008 00:12 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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We’d risk
a guess that a majority of homeowners are probably most
familiar with forced air unit heaters and might not realize
that there are other options for heating a home
– other options that are more efficient and
even more comfortable. One such option is radiant
floor heating, which, as opposed to warm air
systems, delivers the source of heat upwards from the
floor level, not from the ceiling. Radiant
heaters or radiant energy is the oldest form of heating
used to provide comfort and is the basis for all
heating systems. Radiant energy is heat efficiently
radiating outwards, and is absorbed by an object
without physical contact with the heat source or by heating
the surrounding air, as is the case with convective,
forced air systems.
It might be hard to believe, but under floor
heat was first used by the Romans. While under floor
heating was initially reserved for the rich, it
eventually became increasingly commonplace in public
buildings and villas. This form of radiant heating was
used particularly in the colder regions of the Roman
Empire. The Roman system was based on hypocausts,
comprising ducts that underlay the floor (itself built on
raised brick piles) and flues that were built into
walls. Hot air or steam from fires circulated up
through this system, warming the floor and walls, with heat
passing into the rooms.
If you’re looking for efficient,
comfortable heat for your home, radiant floor
heating could the solution you’ve been looking
for.
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December 26, 2008 00:12 AM  BY STACEY BARRUS
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We couldn’t say it any plainer than this:
radiant
heaters are the most efficient form of heat
available in today’s market.
Significantly less operating time is required to attain
and maintain the desired warmth compared to
furnaces and other, traditional methods of
heating, which keeps operational costs to a minimum.
High efficiency boilers or
electric radiant floor systems makes radiant
heat one of your most efficient ways to heat your
home. Combined with a well- insulated home these
systems can quickly warm your home and then shut
down or wait idle for long periods of time before being
called upon by the thermostat to operate.
More than ever before, homebuilders,
househunters, and home renovators alike are
looking for energy-efficient heating options for houses.
We say they need look no further than radiant
heaters for their ideal home heating solution.
Radiant Heaters Tip: Being more
environmentally friendly doesn’t have to
involve major renovations. Many peoples’ homes
waste a lot of energy by not sealing cracks, doors and
windows. Checking to make sure a home’s
insulation is in good shape and replacing it if
it’s not is another good surefire way to stop,
prevent, and reverse energy waste.
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