Step Up to Radiant Floor Heating

Steve Thomas is the host of Planet Green's Renovation Nation, a program that focuses on making green renovations to homes across the country. In his regular column on PlanetGreen.com, Steve goes behind the scenes of the show and offers additional tips and insight on green renovation.

Radiant floor heating is extremely comfortable. It's been around for a long time. The Roman's used to use it in their baths. They would light fires under the stone floors and direct flue gases around the underside of the baths and around the sidewalls. It heated all the stones and made it nice and warm.

Radiant floor heating doesn't kick up dust. It's not shooting air through the house, so there is no dust getting circulated. It's efficient, because the temperature is so even. Many forced hot air systems start from what's known as a "cold seventy phenomenon." The temperature will rise up, the furnace will turn off and the temperature will fall. As the temperature falls, you feel cold. Radiant floor heat keeps the floor nice and warm and provides a nice even heat.

For my next personal project, I'm planning to link radiant floor heat with solar-thermal. If you can get enough solar thermal, which is cheap, you do a lot to boosting the water temperature. This could reduce the amount of fossil fuels used, if not eliminate them all together.

Don't miss the Gift of Green episode of Renovation Nation.