Floor Heater Old House

They re relatively simple to install in retrofit situations and in new construction because there are no bulky ducts to run.

Floor heater old house.

Floor furnaces are often very inefficient especially in homes that don t have good insulation often true for older southern california homes. The floor radiates heat to your feet warming you all over. That s the appeal of radiant floor heating says this old house plumbing and heating expert richard trethewey who has long been a fan. Baseboard heaters are popular in old and new homes alike and here s why.

It s also a highly efficient way to heat a house increasing comfort as it reduces energy costs. But i really wanted to know how to t. The heat distribution is spotty with areas closer becoming too hot and more distant rooms left too cold. Radiant floor heating has been around for centuries.

Ducted hot air systems appeared in some upscale homes and buildings were warmed with heat generated by huge brick furnaces in the cellar which vented into rooms through floor and baseboard registers usually with decorative rotating vanes to. Old house heating improvements the 19th century brought improved heating and ventilating systems. Most familiar are hydronic systems that heat your entire house. Loops of white plastic tubing hang suspended like hula hoops in the basement of madeline krauss and paul friedberg s shingle style home the site of this old house tv s newton project.

The principle is simple. But a radiant heat system has more than just aesthetics going for it. A service technician from socal gas came to turn off my old floor heater pilot and inspect my gas appliances for safety. Hydronic floor heating systems use hot water pumped through plastic tubing laid out in a serpentine pattern to heat the floor.

They re ideal for whole house heating but professionals suggest installing them during the home s construction because they can be difficult to retrofit if the home isn t already outfitted with the proper equipment. It s truly invisible he says. The furnaces take up extra space on the ground floor. They produce wonderful heat but they require serpentine runs of plastic tubing water heaters or boilers pumps and manifolds.

Fortunately dry radiant systems can add heat to your floor while sacrificing only about an inch of height in the room. Richard trethewey toh s plumbing and heating expert pulls another length of tubing from a decoiler on the basement floor and feeds it to heating contractor john perry who snakes it along a joist bay over his.