Because of my work, I’ve been required to move to around the northeastern section of the country.
I’ve rented houses all along the northern border, where the winter weather is seriously severe.
I am actually accustomed to cold temperatures well below zero, dangerously frigid wind chill and big accumulations of annual snowfall, but moving around has given me the opportunity to experience all different kinds of types of furnaces, and while the majority of homes are outfitted with a forced air oil furnace, I’ve also leased places with geothermal heat pumps, high-velocity systems and boilers. In my opinion, there is no comparison to a boiler heater. A boiler provides the option of radiators, baseboard oil furnaces or radiant floor heating, and I’ve tried all of them. The best is radiant floors, nothing can compete with the luxury, cost-savings and overall benefits. For one thing, the equipment is actually hidden beneath the floors. There’s nothing to detract from the aesthetics of the home. There’s no need to arrange furniture around supply and return vents, additionally the heat is spread evenly from corner to corner with no cold spots or drafts. The system runs silently, won’t dry out the air and the heat rises slowly. I’ve found that radiant heated flooring allows a significantly lower temperature control setting. This type of heating also accommodates zone control for further cost savings, and each room can be set to an independent temperature and there’s no reason to heat unoccupied rooms, getting up in the morning and setting my bare feet on a warm floor is actually a pleasure. When I finally get around to building my dream home, I will most absolutely install hydronic radiant flooring in every room.