In Floor Heating Water Temperature

Heat losses to below grade.

In floor heating water temperature.

Traditional radiators need to be heated to a high temperature between 149 167 degrees fahrenheit 65 75 degrees celsius in order to heat up a room effectively whereas floor heating only needs to run at a temperature of 84 degrees fahrenheit 29 degrees celsius or less depending on the floor finish in order to warm the room thereby consuming less energy and keeping your energy bills far lower. Granted the unit dedicated to heat ing the floor only wastes heat during the winter months. This suggested criterion is based on the fact that the distribution piping and heat emitters in a well planned. As warm water circulates through the tubing or as electricity warms the heating elements the concrete flooring turns into an efficient inconspicuous radiator.

For example the familiar finned tube baseboard convectors used in many residential and light commercial buildings work well with water temperatures above 150 f but not with low temperature systems such as ground source heat pumps see table matching the components. Radiant floor heating and hardwood floors humans appreciate floors temperatures that are controlled to above 66 f 19 c in cooling and below 84 f 29 c in heating. To prevent this air humidity is kept low below 50 and floor temperatures are maintained above the dew point 19 c 66f. Typically radiant heating systems warm floors to temperatures of 75 to 80 degrees f.

The down side is two heat sources. Typical radiant floor systems operate at 85 125 f water temperature entering the tubing and put the floor surface temperature about 5 degrees above the room thermostat set temperature. When floors are conditioned within this range most people wearing normal footwear will enjoy having their feet on the floor. All water heaters waste heat energy even when the burner is off and the unit is sitting idle between heat ing cycles.

But standby losses for six months out of every year can add up. Even lower supply water temperatures should be used when possible. Some types of heat emitters are best suited for relatively high temperature heat sources. Building systems and materials.

According to ashrae the american society of heating refrigerating and air conditioning engineers a floor temperature that creates optimal human comfort for most people lies just about at 75 f as shown in this graph.