Lions, Tigers, and Bears, OH MY! Liars, Cheaters, and Fears, OH MY!
It’s, The Walmart TV Network... look up!When my grandson had just started to talk this was one of the first things he sung. Probably because there were so many days that he came to one of the stores while I was at work or someone else in the family was at work he heard it over and over.There was a time during my employ with Walmart that I would not stand for anyone saying anything negative about the company.I would defend the company in every way possible and as sick as it seems I still do. I must still be in denial.There are many things about this “eight hundred pound gorilla” that are controversial and even though my roots go back to a family that was democrat to the bone even now I have to defend the company as far as some of it goes.. If you want traditional hard-wood floors, a complex system of sleepers must be installed to allow for nailing of the wood to the sub-floor.

Retro-fitting carpet over what used to be tile can’t be easily done with hot-water systems. Changing the R-value (insulating characteristic) of the floor-covering changes the amount of heat that makes it into the space in hydronic systems, since they are designed to transfer heat via a temperatur

If the decision of what type radiant heating system to use was left to the floor-coverings, it would choose electric radiant. Eliminating the risk of water/glycol leaks, standard floor-heights, simple retro-fits, almost unlimited choice of carpet padding, uniform heat flux, easier installations and superior floor or space temperature control are only a few of the advantages of electric radiant heat. This isn’t to say that there aren’t disadvantages of electric radiant, but then I’m a sparky not a plumber, so I’m here to espouse the benefits and desirable features of electric radiant heat and its loving relationship with any and all floor-coverings. Oh, wait a minute, how could I forget, electric systems cost a fraction what hot-water (hydronic) systems do.

From the simplest of painted concrete to floors to floors that started with linoleum, added carpet, then converted to imported marble, electric radiant is truly and simply superior to hydronic radiant and here are the reasons why.

There is no water or glycol – and spilled electrons don’t damage floor-coverings, in fact, there’s no need to even sweep them up. Seriously, the safety standards and National Electrical Code keep electrical systems safe. Yes, a cable, mesh or mat can be damaged by an errant nail or screw, but the worst case scenario is the system doesn’t work as compared to a penetrated tube of a hydronic system with 100 gallons of water and glycol pumped out on the top level floor of a three floor custom home.

Built-up floor height for most electric systems is less than ?” and some as little 1/ 16” thick. Most hydronic systems pour 1 ?” of light-weight concrete over the tubes increasing construction costs and limiting the types of floor-coverings that can be installed. If you want traditional hard-wood floors, a complex system of sleepers must be installed to allow for nailing of the wood to the sub-floor.

Retro-fitting carpet over what used to be tile can’t be easily done with hot-water systems. Changing the R-value (insulating characteristic) of the floor-covering changes the amount of heat that makes it into the space in hydronic systems, since they are designed to transfer heat via a temperature

antages of electric radiant, but then I’m a sparky not a plumber, so I’m here to espouse the benefits and desirable features of electric radiant heat and its loving relationship with any and all floor-coverings. Oh, wait a minute, how could I forget, electric systems cost a fraction what hot-water (hydronic) systems do.

From the simplest of painted concrete to floors to floors that started with linoleum, added carpet, then converted to imported marble, electric radiant is truly and simply superior to hydronic radiant and here are the reasons why.

There is no water or glycol – and spilled electrons don’t damage floor-coverings, in fact, there’s no need to even sweep them up. Seriously, the safety standards and National Electrical Code keep electrical systems safe. Yes, a cable, mesh or mat can be damaged by an errant nail or screw, but the worst case scenario is the system doesn’t work as compared to a penetrated tube of a hydronic system with 100 gallons of water and glycol pumped out on the top level floor of a three floor custom home.

Built-up floor height for most electric systems is less than ?” and some as little 1/ 16” thick. Most hydronic systems pour 1 ?” of light-weight concrete over the tubes increasing construction costs and limiting the types of floor-coverings that can be installed. If you want traditional hard-wood floors, a complex system of sleepers must be installed to allow for nailing of the wood to the sub-floor.

Retro-fitting carpet over what used to be tile can’t be easily done with hot-water systems. Changing the R-value (insulating characteristic) of the floor-covering changes the amount of heat that makes it into the space in hydronic systems, since they are designed to transfer heat via a temperatur

o imported marble, electric radiant is truly and simply superior to hydronic radiant and here are the reasons why.

There is no water or glycol – and spilled electrons don’t damage floor-coverings, in fact, there’s no need to even sweep them up. Seriously, the safety standards and National Electrical Code keep electrical systems safe. Yes, a cable, mesh or mat can be damaged by an errant nail or screw, but the worst case scenario is the system doesn’t work as compared to a penetrated tube of a hydronic system with 100 gallons of water and glycol pumped out on the top level floor of a three floor custom home.

Built-up floor height for most electric systems is less than ?” and some as little 1/ 16” thick. Most hydronic systems pour 1 ?” of light-weight concrete over the tubes increasing construction costs and limiting the types of floor-coverings that can be installed. If you want traditional hard-wood floors, a complex system of sleepers must be installed to allow for nailing of the wood to the sub-floor.

Retro-fitting carpet over what used to be tile can’t be easily done with hot-water systems. Changing the R-value (insulating characteristic) of the floor-covering changes the amount of heat that makes it into the space in hydronic systems, since they are designed to transfer heat via a temperatur

system doesn’t work as compared to a penetrated tube of a hydronic system with 100 gallons of water and glycol pumped out on the top level floor of a three floor custom home.

Built-up floor height for most electric systems is less than ?” and some as little 1/ 16” thick. Most hydronic systems pour 1 ?” of light-weight concrete over the tubes increasing construction costs and limiting the types of floor-coverings that can be installed. If you want traditional hard-wood floors, a complex system of sleepers must be installed to allow for nailing of the wood to the sub-floor.

Retro-fitting carpet over what used to be tile can’t be easily done with hot-water systems. Changing the R-value (insulating characteristic) of the floor-covering changes the amount of heat that makes it into the space in hydronic systems, since they are designed to transfer heat via a temperatur

. If you want traditional hard-wood floors, a complex system of sleepers must be installed to allow for nailing of the wood to the sub-floor.

Retro-fitting carpet over what used to be tile can’t be easily done with hot-water systems. Changing the R-value (insulating characteristic) of the floor-covering changes the amount of heat that makes it into the space in hydronic systems, since they are designed to transfer heat via a temperature difference between the water in the tube and the floor covering surface, whereas electric systems put out a constant wattage regardless of the floor-covering insulating characteristics. Floor covering types can be changed time after time with electric radiant without changing the heating system.

Hot and Cold Spots or what some-people call spot-heating can be easily accomplished by installing higher or lower heat-density and adding a simple floor- sensor to control the temperature. Have you ever noticed how dogs or cats search for the warmest piece of flooring in a home and sleep there? We added a special tile floor heated 10° warmer for our house pet that became new sleeping accommodations for Cairo.

Uniform Heat Flux – The harder the floor covering the more noticeable warm or cold spots become and the layout of the hot-water tubing and the changing temperature of the water through the loop result in changing floor-temperatures. This doesn’t happen with electric heat, each foot of cable, or length of mesh or mat generate exactly the same amount of heat as the next foot making it very easy to maintain a constant temperature across the floor. If the floor-coverings are going to be different in one room or one zone, split it into two zones of electric so the desired temperature can be maintained on each surface. This is easier to do and less costly for electric than hydronic.

Installation of any product is a concern and any time the cross-trade issues of installation can be minimized everyone wins. Electric systems don’t require any mechanical room space so long as they are installed before the floor-covering is installed you don’t have to do a lot of coordination with the other trades. If you want to climatize some exotic har