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I find it odd that radiant heat is so uncommon in the US and most of Canada, even in buildings without AC, whilst in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe it’s the m
by bpye 4y ago
I find it odd that radiant heat is so uncommon in the US and most of Canada, even in buildings without AC, whilst in the U.K. and elsewhere in Europe it’s the most common form of heating. Anecdotally I much prefer radiant heat to forced air.
- WalterBright 4y agoThe air circulation from forced air keeps the mildew down. I once had an apartment with radiant heat. The windows would collect condensed water and the sills were all moldy. Forced air also keeps the CO2 levels in the room in check.
- throwuwu 4y agoCan confirm, I have radiant heat and we have to watch out for condensation on windows especially in the bathroom or where curtains are drawn. We have an air exchange as well and it does help but not 100%
- sofixa 4y agoYou can have air circulation independent of the heating, which has the advantage of keeping the mildew down all year round. In fact that's the norm on newly built buildings in France, you have radiators for heating and an active air circulation system.
- into_infinity 4y agoYou generally still need electricity for radiant heating - there's a pump moving water through the radiators. But I think it's pretty easy to understand why it's unpopular. First, AC is popular in the US, so a system that can reuse the same ducts is a lot less expensive than something entirely separate. Secondly, it's a lot simpler and cheaper to service. If your hydronic heating system freezes or develops an airlock or springs a leak, you might be looking at five-figure repair costs.
- jmclnx 4y agoEver see radiator in action ? The ones I have uses steam. Water would boil in the furnace and pressure would force the steam up to the radiators. Then the steam would condense, heating the apartment and the water would flow back down to the furnace to be re-heated again. In the old furnace, every so often you would have to add water, depending on how cold it is outside. The house was build over 110 years ago, so electricity was not too common back then. I probably think the source of heat back then was a coal furnace.
- bpye 4y agoOh, I understand that when AC is present, but in my experience in the PNW - AC is uncommon, but forced air is still preferred for heating.
- rootusrootus 4y ago> I much prefer radiant heat to forced air I'm curious, why? I've never lived somewhere with radiators, so I perhaps don't know what I'm missing.
- bpye 4y agoI find that radiant more evenly heats a space - there's no obvious warm air flow from a vent like you'd get with forced air. It's also near silent (except for your boiler) and doesn't blow dust about.