Radiant Heat
Components
We keep up with the latest technological advancements so we can always present you with the very best products our industry has to offer. Let's take a look at these components by taking a walk through the radiant heating system.
Condensing Boilers
We begin with water, which the condensing boiler will warm in a totally modern way. Condensing boilers are the most energy efficient heating boilers on the market today. Unlike traditional boilers, condensing boilers recover energy from flue gas that is normally discharged through the chimney as waste. The flue gas is cooled and "condenses" into liquid. As the gas cools, it gives off nearly 100% of its heat energy, and that's what makes these modern machines so remarkably efficient. They wring out all those Btus that you paid for and put them into your home, rather than into the sky.
Manifolds & Actuators
After the water warms up in the condensing boiler, it enters the manifold and stops at a road block called the actuator valve. Actuator valves are responsible for sending water to and from the PEX tubing. The control system runs the actuator valve, and this control is the command center for the entire radiant heating system, but more on that in a moment.
PEX Tubing
Once the actuator valve opens, the warm water flows into the PEX tubing that runs under the flooring, thus warming the room. PEX (that's an acronym for Poly Ethylene Crosslinked - they used an X instead of a C because it's easier to say), is an incredibly durable and strong plastic that can handle both hot and cold water. The type of PEX tubing that we use on our jobs is the perfect tubing for radiant heating systems because it will not rust and can tolerate a wide range of temperatures. Once buried, you can forget about it. It's proven over many years, and yes, it's that good.
Control Systems
The control system is the brain of a radiant heating system. It is responsible for modulating the boiler, polling the outdoor temperature sensor for boiler-temperature reset (based on how cold it is outside), and communicating with the indoor thermostats. When a room-thermostat temperature falls below the designated room temperature, the system controller is responsible for opening the actuator valves, allowing warm water to flow to that room's radiant flooring. A microprocessor control system can be as simple as a thermostat or as sophisticated as a tekmar TN4 system. We can tell you more about this when we get together.