Now Is the Perfect Time to Install Radiant Heating
Summer brings with it a multitude of outside chores of home remodeling projects, whether it be landscaping your yard, pouring a new cement patio, re-shingling the roof or repainting the home. What many Utah homeowners don’t realize is that summer is the perfect time to install a snow-melt radiant heating system.
According to Steve Love, sales manager for Heatizon, snow-melt and interior floor heating systems have been around for about 25 years and are becoming more and more popular in and outside of Utah. Heatizon manufactures a complete line of low-voltage radiant heating products.
“Imagine snow and ice automatically melting from your driveway and sidewalks. Or your tile and hardwood floors being comfortably warm to your bare feet,” Love explains. Unlike forced air systems, radiant heat, which is installed underneath flooring, warms objects, not just the air. It’s a much more comfortable and even heat.
Heatizon’s radiant heat systems use one of two products that can be installed in new construction or retrofitted to existing applications. The Tuff Cable, a copper element, is used in snowmelting systems for driveways or sidewalks. In an existing system, technicians cut thin, inch-deep channels that are 6 inches apart into the pavement, which is where the cable is laid and then closed with a sealant. For new driveways or walkways, the cable is installed just before the concrete in poured.
One of the most recognized local projects that Heatizon undertook using The Tuff Cable was Utah’s TRAX light rail system. The snow melting system was installed on all the passenger station access ramps to keep the area from snow during the winter. One of its largest projects- 20,000 square feet- was the LDS Conference Center, where the cable was installed on plaza sidewalks and stairs.
For interior flooring applications, as well as under-shingle roof systems, Heatizon uses Z Mesh, a bronze wire mesh, which is placed over an existing concrete floor or on top of the wood subfloor. Tile, carpet or wood flooring can then be placed over the heating system. In roofing systems, the mesh is installed underneath the shingles, making it virtually invisible.
An in-floor radiant system is ideal for homeowners who are finishing off their basement, yet not sure how to make walking across cold floors more bearable during the winter.
For Richard Hull, who is building an addition on to his father’s 1950 home in Hooper, installing a Heatizon system was a no-brainer. In order to install a conventional forced-air system, he would have had to run new ductwork throughout the new part of the house, which he says would have cost the same as installing a radiant system. Hull also had managed the 7,000-square foot Hidden Springs Resort Ranch in Nephi, which had been heated by a Heatizon system. It was only after living there that he was convinced that radiant heat was the only way to go.
“It’s a more efficient, uniform heat that is distributed more evenly because the heat rises from the floor,” he says. “Also, I anticipate my heating costs will be about the same as if I had a forced-air system.”
“What makes the technology so unique is that Heatizon uses a low-voltage system, ranging from 8 to 30 volts AC,” Love notes, “eliminating safety concerns for water, cuts and nails or screw driven through the element.”
Besides safety, radiant heat offers a number of other benefits over the traditional heating systems- one being that radiant heat is 51 percent more efficient than forced-air systems, making it less expensive to run.
“With a radiant heat system, you can reduce your heating bill between 23 to 26 percent, whether it be natural gas or electricity,” Love says.
A Heatizon System does not need to cycle constantly, like other systems, making it more cost-effective. Therefore, homeowners can program the system to go on and off at specific times based on their needs. For example, to run a zone of a snowmelting system during a snowstorm would cost about $1.53 for four hours (based on Salt Lake City electricity rates).
From a health standpoint, radiant heat is also cleaner and environmentally friendly. With a forced-air system, pollen, dust, and other particles are circulating throughout the air, making it uncomfortable for those who suffer from allergies or asthma.
With other heating system, homeowners are limited on where they can place furniture, wall coverings and decorations because of register and radiator placement.
Because all Heatizon systems are solid-state and are not comprised of moving parts, homeowners do not need to worry about maintenance. There is also no risk of broken pipes or tubes or expensive repairs resulting from water damage.
Because it offers such high-quality and durable products in its heating systems, Heatizon provides its customers with a 25-year warranty.
For more information on Heatizon Systems products, call 801-293-1232 or visit the Web site at heatizon.com.
