Hydronic heating is a quiet, clean and safe source of warmth for your home. A pump circulates hot water through insulated pipe work via a boiler installed in a suitable position, which may be fuelled with any available fuel, eg gas, electricity, wood. Heat radiates directly off the heating medium, eg panel radiators, in slab heating, floor ducts, fan convectors, skirting convectors, to objects, occupants, and surfaces of a room without first heating the air. The air is heated by creating natural convection, which gently circulates the warmth throughout the room. To maintain a warm even temperature throughout the building it is necessary to have your system designed correctly. Each room is calculated separately to determine the heat load.

Floors stay warm, floor to ceiling temperatures fluctuate marginally, body heat is retained and room air retains its moisture and feels fresher and more comfortable.

Hydronic heating operates at lower temperatures and requires less fuel. Lower operating temperatures and the radiant nature combine to produce a more evenly distributed, energy efficient heating system that closely approaches "ideal heating". (Refer to diagram below.)

Experience has shown that the desired air temperature with hydronic heating systems is lower than the air temperature with conventional systems for the same level of comfort.

OUTDOOR DESIGN TEMPERATURE

Based on historical weather data, a set of outdoor temperatures for typical cold days have been established for various localities. Using this information, heating systems are designed to produce specified indoor conditions on all but a few unusually cold days of the year.

Such systems will still produce "comfort" conditions on these unusually cold days, without going to the expense of oversizing the system to cater for any extreme condition which may occur on extremely rare occasions.

VARIOUS TYPES OF RADIANT HEATING SYSTEMS

•  Coil in concrete slab
•  Thermostatically controlled panel radiators
•  In floor heating ducts

FUELS WHICH CAN BE EMPLOYED TO HEAT WATER FOR HEATING PURPOSES

•  Natural gas
•  Off peak electricity
•  Briquettes
•  Wood
•   L P Gas
•  Distilate

HEATING CURVES

The panel radiator curve would follow very closely that shown for under floor heating.

Ideal temperature Slightly warmer for the feet than the head.	Tululous Under-Floor Heating Gives an almost ideal temperature distribution in the room	Forced Air leaves feet colder than the head

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