Radiant Floor Heating or Forced Air Heating?

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Radiant Floor Heating or Forced Air Heating?

You can drive to work in a Ford Focus. You can drive to work in a Cadillac CTS. Both are fine cars and will get you from home to work reliably, but that’s pretty much where the comparison ends. Merts Heating & Air Conditioning believes the same analogy can be made when it comes to heating and cooling your South Chicagoland or Indiana Lake County Region home.

You have choices

For decades the vast majority of homes have been heated and cooled by forced air systems. They blow hot air or cold air throughout the home through a series of ducts. Just like the Ford Focus, they will do a fine job, but there are other choices. Choices that may put a little more luxury in your life by making you more comfortable.

Radiant Heating

This type of heating has also been around for decades. You may have grown up with hot water radiators in your school or home. These days the most popular form of radiant heating is floor heating. Water, heated by a boiler, is pumped through tubes installed under your floor. The warmth from the floor radiates throughout the room.

Benefits of Radiant Heating

Now you are asking, “Just what makes radiant floor heating the Cadillac of home heating?” We can think of several reasons:

No Noisy Blowers & Fans

They blow the hot air around the house but also carry dust and allergens on the moving air. Floor heating is totally quiet as the heat slowly warms all the objects in the room.

Even Heating

Many times with forced air systems the upstairs is too hot, and the downstairs is too cold. Those problems disappear with radiant heating.

No Floor Registers or Return Ducts

This means complete freedom to arrange and decorate as you please. There’s no worrying about covering up the hot air registers because you want the sofa or entertainment center in a specific spot.

Custom Control

Radiant floor heating can be easily zoned, meaning each room or area can be set to different temperatures. Zoning is possible with forced air systems, but it’s much more difficult to accomplish.

Energy Savings

Radiant heating is generally 25% more efficient than forced air. A big reason is you don’t have ductwork. In a typical duct system, it’s not unusual to lose 30% of your hot air before it even gets to the living areas in your home.

The Decision Is Yours

Merts is very aware not everyone can afford to drive a Cadillac. The upfront cost of radiant floor heating is higher than heating with hot air, but over time the greater efficiency will help pay for the system. We totally understand if you don’t want to make the additional investment and we have several options in traditional forced air systems to keep your South Chicagoland or Indiana Lake County Region home comfortable.

Don’t wait for the winter cold

Whatever decision you make, now is the time to replace your old heating system. If you wait until winter arrives, you may have waited too long. Call Merts Heating & Air Conditioning now to schedule your no-obligation estimate. Be sure to like and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.