Easy Plumbing Knowledge

Hello team! How is everyone doing in this tough times. We hope everyone is doing well and adjusting to the different measures that are in place to keep everyone safe. In today's blog post we will compare and contrast two systems of radiant heating. We will talk about radiators and baseboard heating systems. One thing that they both have in common is that both depend on hot water as the most popular heat source. Radiators work by moving energy from the radiator through the air, without heating up the air until it strikes an object. At that moment it is when the object is finally warmed. In the past, large cast-iron radiators were used. They machines were huge, weighing more than 100 pounds. In contrast, baseboard heating systems convey heat from hot water to the air using convection, that is, the motion that happens when warmer air rises, while cooler air drops down. Thus, these systems create a curtain of warm, rising air. The advantage of baseboard systems is that they ...

Hello Easy Plumbing Knowledge team, in the previous posts we have learned more about how hot water baseboard systems work and the positive and negative aspects of having such a system. Today, however, we will focus on comparing radiant heating systems with other radiant heating systems. As we covered on previous posts, hot water baseboard systems work by having water that is pumped from a central boiler into pipes that go through the baseboards at the bottom of the wall and that then help radiate heat to each room. In contrast to hot water baseboard systems, electric baseboards heaters use an electric resistance heating unit as the heat source instead of a hot water baseboard. The downside to this method is that is much more expensive and inefficient. What about radiators? This heating system that radiates heat is more efficient than electric baseboards but occupy much more space than hot water baseboard systems. The next system we want to compare is the radiant floor heat...

In the previous blog we covered more about hot water baseboard systems. We covered some of the benefits of such systems, including their lower installation costs, their energy efficiency, and their constant flow of warmth and silent operation. We learned about how they operate using water through pipes that is pumped from a boiler. In this post, we will cover some of the negatives of getting a hot water baseboard system: First, hot water baseboard systems are not the best of systems to warm up a room. They take a longer time to heat up rooms, especially larger rooms. Radiant heating systems are much more superior at this but are more expensive. Second, hot water baseboard systems don't produce large quantities of heat. Thus, again, there will be some problems getting rooms, especially larger rooms, warmed up. Third, the fact that the heater is located at the baseboards in each room, this will get in the way with having unlimited freedom with your decor of each room. Yes...

Hello everyone! In today's post we will be covering a heating technology known as hot water baseboard heaters. In this technology, hot water that comes from a central boiler in your house is pumped into pipes that then go along the bottom of the wall on either one or more sides of each room of your house. So basically, hot water baseboard heaters use water instead of electricity. So, now, let's get to some of the positives of such technology: 1) One of the first things that come to mind as  a positive of hot water baseboard heaters is that installing such a system may considerably lower than other technologies. Of course, this depends on how many rooms, the locations of the rooms that you want to maintain warm, and also if there is already a space for the boiler. 2) Another huge advantage of hot water baseboard heater systems is that they can save you energy. Now, it is important to know that if you have an electric boiler, then hot water baseboard heaters may not b...

Hello Team, How are you guys doing today? We hope that you all are doing fine during this difficult times. Indeed, we all have been going through much stress and anxiety and uncertainty. In the last few posts, we have been covering details about how radiant heating systems work with different flooring types, form vinyl to concrete to laminate floors. Today, we will cover three more topics regarding radiant heating systems. The first one will be installation costs. Of course, as in many other things in life, a specific answer is impossible to give. The factors to consider are the type of system that you choose for your home and the size of your home. As a general rule, installing your radiant floor heating will range between $10 to $30 per square foot. Again, this depends a lot on the type of system that you want to install and the difficulty of the installation. In addition to this labor part, you will also need to pay an electrician to connect the system to your hour...

We have covered the many benefits of installing a radiant heating system friends. These benefits include: - Potential lower utility bills - More even heat distribution - Better air quality Now, one subject we have not touched on so far is how to repair a radiant heating floor system. More specifically, today we will cover how to repair an electrical floor heating system. For this, we have to consider that because there are no moving parts, electrical floor heating systems (one type of radiant heating systems) is such a type that does not give much problems. The best news when asking this repair question is that the entire floor has to be removed! Proving to be a nightmare for everyone! Just kidding!  You don't have to remove the entire floor. This is thanks to a device called Time Domain Reflectometer. This mechanisms helps to identify a short or break in your electrical floor heating system. The TDR calculates the distance from where a short has occurred and then sen...

Radiant heating systems have a lot of positive points in their favor. They are more efficient than other systems and they distribute heat more efficiently. Of course, there are many variables to consider, such as the type of floor covering, the thickness, the size of the house, the type of radiant heating system that it is (air vs electric vs hydronic). Thus, as a result you can potentially get lower utility bills. In addition, there is no ductwork. As a result there is more floor space. Another great point is better indoor air quality since forced air heating systems distribute pet dander, dust, mold spores in addition to what they are meant to distribute (heat). Now, however, there are a few disadvantages of radiant heating systems to consider. The first one of them is that the installation of radiant heating systems can be substantial. The good thing about this is that radiant heating systems can pay for themselves through the lower utility bills. Now, the cost of the instal...