Underfloor Warming – an Alternative Approach

The Floor Warming or Floor Heating business has literally erupted in recent years. It’s popularity has grown, and rightly so, because it fixes a problem caused by traditional hot-air heating systems. As we all are aware, when heating with hot air, the heated air rises to the ceiling and away from the floor. The result is a cold floor especially when the floor covering is tile or stone.

Most companies that offer a floor warming product have the built-in assumption that you are starting from scratch – that you don’t yet have a floor covering installed. And that’s fine for new construction or when you’re about to add new tile.

But what if you have cold floors now and you don’t want to rip up and replace your finished flooring?

Underfloor Warming

If you have access to the area with the cold floor from below, the SmartRooms Underfloor Heating system might be suitable for you. Often access is easy, say, from an unfinished basement or crawl space.

under floor warming diagram

By placing our RC Series radiant heating panels between the floor joists, the panels will directly warm the underside of the floor which then transfers to the finished floor above. The system is easily controlled with a SmartRooms Controller. Just set it to a comfortable temperature and you’re done!

Want to learn more? Please go to our Underfloor Warming Page or use our convenient request form or feel free to call us, toll-free, at (866)457-4600!

January 9, 2010 | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »

What’s the difference between “Floor Warming” and “Floor Heating”?

The terms “Floor warming” and “Floor heating” are often used interchangeably and I think that does the customer a disservice as it can be confusing and possibly misleading. No-one, in my experience, is deliberately trying to mislead anyone – it’s just that humans have a habit of using terms and phrases imprecisely which can lead to confusion and misunderstandings.

In the SmartRooms world we think the terms should be better defined, so I’m going to take a shot at it:

Floor Warming: the primary goal is to maintain a warm, comfortable floor temperature.

Floor Heating: the primary goal is to maintain a warm, comfortable temperature in the room (or space) by means of heat transfer through the flooring.

To some, the difference may not be obvious or is too subtle to pick up on in a normal conversation. Floor Warming is NOT intended to heat the whole space – just maintain an acceptable floor temperature. The goal is different. And how you approach that goal should be different, too.

But can’t I heat my room with SmartRooms’ Floor Warming System?

Yes. In most cases, our Floor Warming System can be used as a primary heating system if there is sufficient floor space to meet the heat loss demand of the room. However, using the Floor Warming System may not be your most cost-effective solution. Much depends on the room characteristics and what exactly you’re trying to accomplish (the goal).

At SmartRooms we have developed a broad array of different radiant heating products that are designed to work well in almost all circumstances, but some products are better than others in some cases. Unlike other manufacturers who only have a limited range of products, SmartRooms has developed the products and the expertise to help you decide what is best for you.

As versatile as radiant heating is, there is no product that can be “all things to all people”. That’s why we have a broad array of products to address your unique situation.

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