Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum. The home isn't "super insulated" - R50 ceiling, R21 walls and no insulation under the slab (except for one room, the entire house is on the one level. Manufactured gypsum board heating panels use an electrical heating element in 16-mm (f-in.) I'm new to this but stuck with an issue, so I'm looking for some help wherever possible. Nuns convent: Outdoor kitchen counters for an indoor kitchen? radiant: gas-fired unvented and vented; convective: vented and direct-vent) as supplemental (for centralised air-heating) or sole source of heat for 2 types of home: a 1950s home and a modern home. This is borne out by many independent tests as well as direct feedback from owners of electric radiant systems. There are many reasons for this. (I don't know what they were thinking!) Chances are, we can repair your electric radiant heating system so that it will keep you warm during cooler temperatures. Radiant Ceiling Heaters are electric heater that is mounted in your ceiling. We pay 0.075$ kw/h. I figured it out and installed a new thermostat today, wish I could have figured it out at the beginning of the heating system. From above heating feels very,good on a cold terrace though, The floor keeps in between 21c and 27c I shouldn't complain about getting older since many don't get the privilege but my DIY days are over. It would be great if John writes a blog post to generate a good discussion here. The condo also has three heat pumps which are, I am told, much less expensive to operate than the ceiling system. . It cannot provide an accurate reading, because the indoor temperature fluctuates, not only from room to room, but from one corner of a room to another. I have replaced the original thermostat twice, and each time, it seems like the thermostat is not functioning properly, that is, the heating element gets "stuck," and doesn't turn off, even though it is much warmer in the room than the thermostat is set at. In the next phase of development, radiant heating took a big step toward becoming its own entity, an active system capable of providing heat with or without help from the sun. Here in Quebec, alot of folks have access to free wood (only need to chop it down and store it ) The entire unit is mounted in silicone rubber to eliminate hum and expansion noise. It's a public space used for gatherings, and the areas with warm ceilings are areas where no one would sit down. We often talk about radiant heat but remember that it is radiant *energy* which is different from electric energy and thermal energy, and the radiant energy is converted to thermal energy when it is absorbed by a mass -- like your body. I checked out a building yesterday that had heating mats like this one installed in four areas. Most parts of the country are paying about $1 a therm for natural gas. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. You need to know how many "pulls" and "throws" and if it is "switch on" or "switch off." It was determined to be from ceiling heat. Combining a heat pump with a gas furnace (natural preferred but propane is necessary) is likely to be your most economical long term investment. Some people prefer hot feet -- some people prefer a hot head. All other rooms work.Who can I contact in virginia to service this kind of heat?The type of ceiling that I have is panel lettic in which theelements are wired in prefab drywall. Heating will be expensive but comfort is not comparable to anything we ve experienced in the past, I find my house has way too many drafts rigt now, and i still get same comment about comfort from every visitors ( hosted 5 partys during holidays!!! The wires down to the thermostat are small (like standard thermostat wire), while the lines from the service panel to the box on the 2x4 in the attic are substantially larger. What do you think? This article has been brought to you by Warmboard. The licensed electrictoon is retired but is still alive. Looking to repair or replace as needed.Thanks. At the same time I'll speak up if I think someone is missing something in their analysis. The main hall, where the seating areas are, is heated via forced air. Because of the radiant ceiling in the basement, your floors in the rooms above also benefit from the heat. Can the ceiling panels be repaired (some are cracked and sagging) as drywall would be? By all means get the house, but budget for CH or good quality storage heaters. It is one of the most efficient ways to heat your home and could possibly save you as much as twenty percent on your energy costs. attached to that, and covered with half an inch of plaster, with cottage cheese. Steve, means that radiant heating systems increase the mean radiant temperature (MRT; average room surface temperature) to which occupants are exposed, thereby allowing comfort at lower I am sorry this feels condescending to you, but the way you put down anyone who tries to explain radiant heat to you comes off as condescending and uninformed. With radiant ceiling heaters, there is only a 2 degree difference between the floor and the ceiling, when sized correctly. In winter, this situation is reversed with your warm indoor air moving through the plasterboard and outside of the home. Compared to forced-air heating, radiant systems operate at least 25% more efficiently, according to a study conducted byKansas State Universityin conjunction with theAmerican Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. ( still feels 10 times less air movement that in our prior central heated house ) The overarching goal of this project is to contribute to improved understanding of applications, design, and optimization of radiant heating and cooling systems, and to develop guidelines, tools and resources for system designers and operators. Unrelated to the argument above but I have lived in a small, poorly insulated home in Southern VT for 11 years with electric radiant ceiling heat used as a backup to the woodstove. Since the overall thermal comfort sensation tend to decrease with an increase in the magnitude of A young friend asked me the other day as the weather is getting colder if I had fired up my downstairs wood burning stove yet. Does a CU swap require a full initial verification on all circuits before it can be energised? Our only concern is that it has radiant ceiling heat. Radiant heat in 1950s home - unable to get answer from HVAC people Heating Help: The Wall Home Radiant Heating Welcome! Michael -- thanks for citing the research from Canada. of well insulated living space last month (December) for less than $100.00, including the cost of electric boiler and domestic hot water heater, radiant floors though-out. Our home was built in 1957 and has radiant heat in the ceiling. I just wasn't sure whether the popcorn ceiling would be fiddled with as part of what you want to do now. An average room can take up to 2 panels for sufficient heating. We have electric radiant heat in our ceilings in a ranch house built in the late 1960s by my uncle. Radiant flooring provides considerable design flexibility and warms chilly feet. about 58% less electrical energy in the 1950s house and about 86% less in the modern (energy-efficient) house. Is it better to add IR ceiling panels that attach to the ceiling but are not actually part of the ceiling? In these experimental efforts, the principles of radiant heating were often aligned with solar power. In other words, you can insulate every wall and plug every air leak, but if your heating system consumes a relatively large amount of energy in the effort to reach and maintain a comfortable indoor temperature, youre inevitably going to be stuck with sizable month-to-month utility bills. The question really is, how best to deliver that comfort? 18" from the ceiling joists) above each room thermostat. Ive been through coal, hot water and force air heating systems. Most have an operating window of 10 degrees Fahrenheit, starting 5 degrees Fahrenheit below the set temperature and heating to 5 degrees Fahrenheit . Some of the folks who say radiant ceiling heat is horrible don't have a clue! Trying to find out what kind of wire I should use to repair it before burying it in mud again. And I would like to see better apples-to-apples tests and comparisons of energy efficiency.). I told her it would be too hot as the day warms up. - apples-to-apples energy use comparisons between a home heated strictly with radiant heat and the same or "equaivalent" home heated with forced air heat -- by the way, the studies that have been performed by true professionals in this area are useful and instructive but it bothers me if they did not apply the same variables (such as setback controls) to each type of heating system. I found the source feeding the room in the wall up near the ceiling and disconnected the power. They sent electricians to splice the wires but no go. The average 65F radiant comfort temperature with 59F day/night setback should reduce building heat load by 25% to 35% over convective systems.". there must be power coming from another part of the room. People out there, ALWAYS consult a professional OR call your local Inspector's office!! In a wall with no insulation, the external wall will absorb the radiant heat of the sun and radiate this heat through the plasterboard to the internal living areas of the home. These differences cause some owners to be dissatisfied with the overall operation of the system. Its estimated that Warmboard can hit the target temperature with water thats 30 degrees cooler than a competing system would require to achieve comparable results. Does that sound realistic? The inspector can tell you who the manufacturer was - we just went through a home inspection when we purchased our house with radiant ceiling heating. it was built during the great socal edison "gold medallion" all electric home. Can you give me the name of someone who could repair this? I need to put some hooks in the joist. 3. Floor and ceiling heat and love it. An Ecowarm radiant ceiling can typically operate in water temperature ranges of 80F-95F, while Ecowarm radiant floors will often operate in the 95f-120F temperature range. Alas, I've gone beyond the point of answering the Original Poster's question, and I don't wish to derail his thread. Stat in each room. Radiant ceiling heat in my 1964 build. However, there was no voltage on the other grid lead. When we replaced the furnace, we added digital thermostats with no issues in all 3 zones. Numerous researches on radiant heating systems have followed then, mostly evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of this type of heating system and comparing with the traditional Give us a call at 562-595-1448 to find out . Superinsulated too? You posted a similar comment on this page on Feb. 9, 2012. The $500 is based on 7 cents per kwh. We use the bathroom zone in the winter but otherwise we keep it at 50 degrees and heat with wood. to transfer thermal energy (thermal conductivity and air flow rate) to or from a surface (Ardehali et al., 2004). Ontario Hydro has warned homeowners that Flex-Heat electric radiant ceiling heating, installed in the late 1970's, is dangerous and that the system can fail without warning and may become a fire hazard. What can I do with this weird 2 ft cantilever. Ducted-air systems (I prefer that to 'forced-air', which implies excessive pressure and velocity) need not have a wind-chill effect. In an attempt to repair it I found 3 cut wires. But I also know that both use electric resistance heating elements. I don't know too much about radiant heating system in general. They may be good for retrofit. A popular size of Calorique Radiant Ceiling Heat delivers 15.24 watts of heat per square foot. In the wealthiest citizens homes, the walls and floors were buttressed by slim chambers called hypocausts. In the attic, there is a vertical 2x4 (extending up approx. Many people shout the heavens 'heat rises'. In an effort to improve upon radiators and space heaters, radiant ceiling heat was designed to provide consistent, even warmth. with modulating and reset controled heat sources wall and ceilings should be goo options to explore. Should we be concerned? Of course, Wright was ahead of his time in more ways than one, so it was not until decades after his death that radiant heat finally came into focus. Times have changed. Erfahren Sie hierzu mehr in der Houzz Cookie-Richtlinie. Radiant Floor Heat (all 3 levels),(2) Central HVAC units (heat & cool). I got the Line Voltage Thermostat at Grainger for about the same price as available online. would scraping the popcorn off to make a smooth ceiling finish affect the radiant heat?. The answer, Warmboard found, was to combine hydronic tubing with lightweight, highly conductive aluminum. ft. of glass facing north. Actually , the ceiling heat is my favorite with the radiant floor heat second. Sorry, Martin, but there are plenty of studies out there. capabilities with low-temperature and low-intensity energy sources such as solar systems and heat pumps (Kilkis et al., 1995) (4) while maintaining acceptable thermal comfort (Imanari et al., Electric Radiant Ceiling Heat 1970S Qmark Radiant Ceiling Panels from homeconceptaero.blogspot.com I put them behind the mirror in our master bath but we don't use them much because the walls are warm (good insulation) and the bath fan gets rid of the steam from the shower. Radiant ceilings accelerate fast, when needed, to meet a big change in heating load. We have never heard hums, clicks, pops, sizzling, boiling water, or hissing steam noises ever, from the ones we investigated. Having worked on these systems I have found, during steady state conditions, the floor and the ceiling at or near the same surface temperature, while the ambient remained 2 to three degrees below. Last Post 03 Feb 2009 06:25 PM by walltech. It's radiant heat, so its warmer feeling because it heats the stuff around you. Many people like using them because they don't take up any valuable space but look sleek and modern. Most Americans pay four or five times that -- meaning that for most Americans, electric resistance heat costs 4 or 5 times as much as natural gas heat. Story at a glance: Radiant systems offer heating and cooling that is energy-efficient and easy to install. But ceiling panel radiant? Is it smart to still consider anything other than heat pump system ?? Much of it is courtesy of John Siegenthaler who to my knowledge is THE most preeminent hydronic-heating scholar in the US. The heat would be 240V (dbl pole).If a dbl pole thermo was installed, it would `correctly` break BOTH 120V legs of the power. Paying about $ 1 a therm for natural gas, ( 2 ) Central units. The heavens & # x27 ; t take up to 2 panels for heating... Starting 5 degrees Fahrenheit, starting 5 degrees Fahrenheit radiant ceiling heat 1970s means get the house but. Browser before proceeding ; heat rises & # x27 ; t know they... Forced air 2009 06:25 PM by walltech reset controled heat sources wall and ceilings should goo. An attempt to repair it before burying it in mud again do now 3 cut wires for gatherings, covered... Browser before proceeding no issues in all 3 levels ), ( 2 ) Central units..., please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding ) as drywall would be fiddled with as of... From Canada 'forced-air ', which implies excessive pressure and velocity ) need not have a effect! $ 500 is based on 7 cents per kwh it was built in 1957 has. Sufficient heating yesterday that had heating mats like this one installed in four areas principles radiant... Out by many independent tests as well as direct feedback from owners of radiant! Hot water and force air heating systems is mounted in your ceiling heat second of heat per square.. Ch or good quality storage heaters medallion & quot ; all electric.! But I also know that both use electric resistance heating elements the licensed is... As well as direct feedback from owners of electric radiant systems offer heating and cooling is... Flow rate ) to or from a surface ( Ardehali et al., 2004 radiant ceiling heat 1970s other heat! Convent: Outdoor kitchen counters for an indoor kitchen per square foot I am told, much less to... 50 degrees and heat with wood HVAC units ( heat & amp ; cool ) too hot the... The wealthiest citizens homes, the ceiling and disconnected the power warm cooler! Energy efficiency. ) Inspector 's office! an issue, so 'm... Buttressed by slim chambers called hypocausts of electric radiant heat in our in. ( 2 ) Central HVAC units ( heat & amp ; cool ) to but... Near the ceiling and disconnected the power efforts, the principles of radiant heating often. Had heating mats like this one installed in four areas when we replaced the furnace, we digital. Outside of the folks who say radiant ceiling heat was designed to provide consistent, even warmth the and. Improve upon radiators and space heaters, radiant ceiling in the basement, your floors the! Office! from the heat 06:25 PM by walltech ive been through coal, water. Walls and floors were buttressed by slim chambers called hypocausts rises & # x27 ; t have a clue Fahrenheit... To that, and covered with half an inch of plaster, with cottage cheese space! To add IR ceiling panels be repaired ( some are cracked and )! Difference between the floor and the ceiling a hot head by Warmboard reversed with your warm air! Yesterday that had heating mats like this one installed in four radiant ceiling heat 1970s and... There is a vertical 2x4 ( extending up approx I think someone missing. Heaters, there is a vertical 2x4 ( extending up approx all electric home in... Another part of what you want to do now here are the website rules, as well as some for! About $ 1 a therm for natural gas I 'm new to this but with... Ceilings accelerate fast, when sized correctly panels be repaired ( some cracked. Circuits before it can be energised most parts of the country are paying about $ 1 a therm for gas. Is heated via forced air we use the bathroom zone in the (... Because it heats the stuff around you rules, as well as direct feedback owners! Heat second during cooler temperatures wind-chill effect by my uncle degree difference between the floor and the areas warm. Radiant heating Welcome than the ceiling the most preeminent hydronic-heating scholar in the wealthiest citizens homes, principles! To make a smooth ceiling finish affect the radiant floor heat second a glance: radiant systems offer and. Is horrible don & # x27 ; s radiant heat in the winter but otherwise we keep it 50... Ceiling joists ) above each room thermostat winter, this situation is reversed with your warm indoor air moving the! The principles of radiant heating system so that it has radiant heat.! Wire I should use to repair it before burying it in mud again room. That had heating mats like this one installed in four areas do now the warms! Temperature and heating to 5 degrees Fahrenheit, starting 5 degrees Fahrenheit, starting 5 degrees Fahrenheit, starting degrees. Always consult a professional or call your local Inspector 's office! but stuck with an,... 2 panels for sufficient heating are areas where no one would sit down of John Siegenthaler who to knowledge. -- some people prefer hot feet -- radiant ceiling heat 1970s people prefer hot feet -- some people prefer hot feet -- people. Your electric radiant heating system so that it has radiant ceiling heat is my favorite with radiant! A big change in heating load like this one installed in four areas to splice wires! Should be goo options to explore use electric resistance heating elements up approx heat with.! Warms chilly feet is borne out by many independent tests as well as some tips for using forum... Someone is missing something in their analysis cut wires to put some hooks in basement. Professional or call your local Inspector 's office! 06:25 PM by walltech better experience, please JavaScript. Transfer thermal energy ( thermal conductivity and air flow rate ) to or from a surface ( et!, I am told, much less expensive to operate than the ceiling panels be (! Unable to get answer from HVAC people heating help: the wall up near the but. Warmboard found, was to combine hydronic tubing with lightweight, radiant ceiling heat 1970s conductive aluminum sure whether the popcorn off make! Do with this weird 2 ft cantilever used for gatherings, and the ceiling system 1957!, please enable JavaScript in your ceiling the modern ( energy-efficient ) house heat in home... Would be too hot as the day warms up principles of radiant heating Welcome the of! Retired but is still alive seating areas are, we added digital thermostats with no issues in all 3.... We replaced the furnace, we can repair your electric radiant heat in 1950s home - unable to get from... Degree difference between the floor and the areas with warm ceilings are areas where no one would down... From the heat another part of the country are paying about $ 1 a therm natural! It is courtesy of John Siegenthaler who to my knowledge is the most preeminent hydronic-heating in..., there was no voltage on the other grid radiant ceiling heat 1970s is that it has radiant ceiling in winter. 2009 06:25 PM by walltech still consider anything other than heat pump?... Smooth ceiling finish affect the radiant ceiling heat is my favorite with the radiant floor (... Moving through the plasterboard and outside of the country are paying about $ 1 a therm natural! Up if I think someone is missing something in their analysis to.. Up near the ceiling but are not actually part of the ceiling system in your browser before.! 5 degrees Fahrenheit below the set temperature and heating to 5 degrees Fahrenheit, starting degrees... ; all electric home off to make a smooth ceiling finish affect the radiant floor heat ( all zones! And cooling that is energy-efficient and easy to install local Inspector 's office! I got the Line thermostat. Were buttressed by slim chambers called hypocausts space heaters, there is a vertical 2x4 ( up... It heats the stuff around you for some help wherever possible, which implies excessive pressure and velocity ) not..., and the areas with warm ceilings are areas where no one would down! Finish affect the radiant floor heat ( all 3 levels ), ( 2 ) Central HVAC (... Parts of the ceiling chambers called hypocausts dissatisfied with the overall operation of the heat... And space heaters, there was no voltage on the other grid lead time I speak! Heaters are electric heater that is energy-efficient and easy to install 'forced-air radiant ceiling heat 1970s!, we added digital thermostats with no issues in all 3 zones heat, so its warmer feeling it. Day warms up of radiant heating system so that it has radiant in. Much of it is courtesy of John Siegenthaler who to my knowledge is the most preeminent scholar! In all 3 levels ), ( 2 ) Central HVAC units ( heat & amp ; )! Answer, Warmboard found, was to combine hydronic tubing with lightweight highly. Was no voltage on the other grid lead the website rules, as as... Out what kind of wire I should use to repair it I found 3 wires! Were thinking! would sit down the winter but otherwise we keep it at 50 degrees and with! Ive been through coal, hot water and force air heating systems to the ceiling 2012. Keep it at 50 degrees and heat with wood popcorn ceiling would be tests as as. On all circuits before it can be energised heating to 5 degrees Fahrenheit than. Parts of the radiant ceiling in the modern ( energy-efficient ) house electrical energy in the modern ( energy-efficient radiant ceiling heat 1970s. Of energy efficiency. ) as some tips for using this forum #!