Guest Post: What Are the Environmental Benefits of Electric Floor Heating

Electric under floor heating is one of the most eco-friendly kinds of heating available today. It is very cost-effective to install and it can reduce heating bills up to 40 per cent compared to radiator systems. 

Electric floor heat exchanger

When electric under floor heating is installed under tile or stone floors, the floors hold the heat for long periods, which reduces the amount of energy needed throughout the day and night. Stone or tile floors also save trees and are warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

CO2 Emissions

The CO2 emissions from electric under floor heating are also environmentally friendly. When this is combined with using solar thermal panels and ground source heat pumps as the source for the heat, the impact is reduced further. Along with the lower energy bills, the running costs are also reduced.

Impact on Health

Electric under floor heating lowers the moisture content in the house, which in turn creates an unfriendly environment for parasites such as dust mites. This is good news for asthma sufferers, people prone to allergies and anyone with breathing problems.

The heat is radiant from the floor and not circulated through vents which can transmit allergens throughout the house. This also includes toxic chemicals that are released by carpets and furniture where toxic glue is used in manufacture. The inside air may be more polluted than the outside air in some areas. Electric under floor heating allows the home owner to reduce the carpets and other possible sources of toxins. In the long run, this will improve the whole family’s health.

Lower Energy Bills

Under floor heating uses less energy than traditional radiator systems fitted on the wall. A boiler that supports a system of radiators will normally be set at 80 degrees Celsius. An electric under floor will normally be set between 45 and 60 degrees Celsius.

At this setting, the under floor heating system will generate the temperature of 27 degrees Celsius. This means the required room temperature is achieved with a lower use of energy. A heat pump can maintain the required room temperature while set as low as 35 to 45 degrees Celsius. This is not only cheaper to run it is healthier for the environment because it uses less energy.

Radiator systems overheat one area of a room so that the heat rises, cools and falls, which means it is not a very effective way to heat a whole room. Each room will have cold spots that eventually mix with the heated air and cause the radiator to turn on. This is not a fuel efficient way to heat a house.

Without central heating ducts, space heaters are used. Space heaters are even more inefficient as they constantly heat the same place even if they are regularly moved around, and the whole room is never comfortable.

Electric under floor heating is the modern equivalent of the ancient Roman system. This is an example of how the search for energy and fuel efficiency has looked to the past and found the answer. 

To learn more about electric floor heating, please visit heattechproducts.com/library

Author: Gene Smelyanskiy

[source: http://feeds.importantmedia.org/~r/IM-greenbuildingelements/~3/j4Z7pHs1V7M/]