Heat Mat Blog
Underfloor Heating - From Hypocaust to Heating Mats
The History of Underfloor Heating
A couple of thousand years ago someone came up with the idea that heating your house through the floor was quite clever, and they were right. After all, Earth had been doing it geothermally since the beginning of time.
The natural way heat rises is utilised perfectly with underfloor heating. It produces very little draught because the entire floor area is warming at the same time, and therefore it heats the air at ground level, which in turn rises and is replaced by cooler air which itself is then heated and rises and so on.
Electric Underfloor Heating Compared to Radiator Heating
Obviously today with the advent of electricity we have no need for Roman slaves to keep the fires burning, but the basic principle remains. The differences between under floor heating and more conventional radiator heating are fairly simple:
Radiator systems are a convector of heat, put simply, they stir the air around them. If you have a radiator in your room the hot air will be concentrated in its vicinity and draughts will form in colder spots, agitating the warm air. Cooler air then drops to the floor and is not heated, warm air ends up floating at ceiling height- unsatisfactory unless you are tall and like a hot head! You also have the added annoyance of a large object obstructing your walls. In today’s world of bijou residences and compact living, we need all the space we can muster in our homes. With underfloor heating, the lack of radiators can help you streamline your room, giving you more living area and allows you to change the look of your room and furnish how you want.
Underfloor Heating Mats and Thermostats
With the advent of ready made heating mats, the worry of complicated installation is now obsolete and the extensive technical assistance offered by Heat Mat before, during and long after you have decided to try under floor heating takes away any anxieties that you may have had.
Efficiency-wise, the gentle, constant rising of heated air across the entire floor can lead to energy savings when compared to alternative forms of heating. This movement of air results in warm feet and a cooler head, which is agrees closely with our natural comfort zone. Because of this, if you have under floor heating, you tend to keep it at a slightly lower temperature than your conventional radiator heating, thus reducing your electricity bill and carbon footprint. Heat Mat thermostats range from fully programmable models through to simple manual controls, and these allow you to control the temperature and heating times in each room separately. So, if you go on holiday and leave granny looking after the house, you can keep her toasty warm, without heating empty bedrooms for a fortnight, another great energy saving feature.
