Radiant Floor Heating vs Baseboard Heating

Installing a heating system into your home can be a difficult decision, and you may be unsure whether to go for radiant floor heating or baseboard heating. There are advantages to both different types of heating system, so what you choose will depend upon the type of home that you have, and what of the advantages will suit you best. In order to get the best from your heating, you will need to make the right decision based upon the circumstances of your household, and what you can afford.

Radiant Floor Heating

Radiant heating uses reflected heat from a boiler or other source in order to warm up a certain part of the home. In floor heating, this is usually managed by laying a series of pipes below the floor, through which hot water travels. Heat from the water pipes is transferred to the board of the floor, giving a warmth to the room. This kind of heating is often considered to be more efficient than ordinary heating, and may be more environmentally sound, as less heat is used. In order to use radiant heating, you will have to have enough room to fit the pipes below the flooring.

If you are able to spend enough money to get the pipes fitted, and to use the hot water system effectively, then you should consider using radiant floor heating in order to get the best from your system. If you have less money to spend, then you should look at other heating systems, so that you can have an affordable heating supply without running up large bills.

Baseboard Heating

Baseboard heating has become very popular in areas which suffer considerable cold spells, such as Alaska and Maine, where temperatures may plunge below freezing on a regular basis, and warm floors will not be enough to warm the entire home. Baseboard heaters are designed to keep a blanket type of heat around each of the windows in a home and help to keep cold away from these windows. This is a big benefit during freezing months, when moisture on the window may actually drop down and cause problems. In order to get the best from a baseboard heater, you will need to have several large windows which are spaced fairly wide apart. Small rooms with small windows will probably not benefit so much from the advantages offered by these kinds of heaters.

Baseboard heat is better when considering the amount of costs which you will need to pay out when installing the heating, but you may find that regularly heating every window can take some heating, and this can extend your energy bills further than you would expect. The cost of putting in each heater is also increased if you have a number of windows, as you will have to have a heater in each room.