Radiant Heat Adds Sizzle to a Builder's Business PATH Case Study

Click here to visit the PATH website. Builder: Chris Meinhart, president Hart Builders Inc. Media, Pa. Chris Meinhart has been building residential and commercial sites since 1988. He began his business building low- and mid-range homes; he now builds high-end custom homes using innovative materials and technologies. The Project: This large single-family home in Williston, Pa., has radiant floor heating in the foyer, garage and master bath. The Technology: Radiant Floor Heating Why he uses radiant floor heating: "It's a more efficient and effective method of heating large, open spaces than traditional forced air systems. Different is not complicated. You can't allow yourself to be afraid of it. There's nothing scary about radiant floor heating. Get over the old and jump into the new." His story Chris Meinhart was attracted to radiant floor heating because of its ability to easily heat large open spaces, especially those with high ceilings. Although radiant floor heating can be used in any room in the house, it is especially popular in rooms with tile and concrete floor finishes, which easily store heat. "I use radiant floor systems to heat rooms such as foyers, master baths, basements and garages where heating an uncontained space would be inefficient or almost impossible with a traditional forced-air system," Meinhart says. "Given the size of many of the rooms that I build, it's been difficult to manage and control temperatures. With radiant heat, you warm surfaces rather than having to circulate high volumes of air. It's been a perfect solution." Various forms of radiant floor heating have been in use since the ancient Romans channeled hot air beneath the floors of their homes. Today's systems usually work by pumping hot water through PEX pipes encased in a concrete slab or installed beneath the finished floor. The heated water flowing through the tubes heats the flooring material, which radiates the heat evenly throughout the room. Wet radiant heating is installed by laying down a network of piping or tubing, usually PEX, and then pouring the concrete slab. Dry radiant heating is installed beneath a finished floor without pouring material over the tubing. In this case, tubing is often sandwiched between layers of plywood, or under the subfloor. Dry heating is more common in retrofits and when the floors in new homes are not poured concrete. A plumber installs PEX pipe. All of the PEX piping for this radiant heat system run from a manifold. Read PATH Field Evaluations of dry radiant floor heating: Farnham Construction, Hailey, Idaho Habitat for Humanity: Schenectady, N.Y. Radiant floor heating systems are becoming increasingly popular due to their efficiency and added comfort. Rather than experiencing the feeling of hot, dry air being blown through a room, customers instead get even, consistent heat without stuffiness. "In my own home, I have installed a radiant heating system in the basement, which I love because it actually keeps the floor dry," Meinhart says. "You can stay warm while maintaining a certain amount of crispness in the air. It's also great for large rooms that are hard to heat, and for rooms with cathedral ceilings because the heat doesn't get lost 15 feet up. It also cuts your heating load significantly, which saves money on energy bills." Radiant floor heating is also quieter and less drafty than conventional systems because there are no heat registers or radiators. Because they don't force air through ducts or registers, radiant systems are ideal for customers sensitive to airborne allergens. Households with radiant floor heating host 50 to 80 percent fewer dust mites, according to the Association for Applied and Experimental Research of Allergies.   1 | 2  NEXT