Category Archives: Articles

Articles

Radiant Heating Systems

Heating systems for homes and businesses are faced with an increasing number of options to consider for their primary and secondary heating. While fire places and coal burning stoves become less popular, other alternative heating methods are quickly becoming more common. Traditional furnaces as a primary heating system are now being challenged from radiant baseboards, radiant floor heating systems and even radiant ceiling heaters. Many of these new heating systems are using electricity instead of natural gas or heating oil.

Space heaters are also becoming a less expensive option to upgrading a poorly insulated home or to add supplemental heat to cold areas. Bathroom heaters and heated towel warmers mount to a wall and provide comfortable warmth to bathrooms. Many interior designers are adopting these electric heating systems as fashionable accessories to bathrooms, basements and home offices.

A common challenge to traditional heating systems is the inability to zone your home for specific areas of the home without heating the entire home. Electric radiant heating systems can be easily designed to be independently controlled by zone which enables a home owner to increase the temperature for defined areas of the home during occupancy and conversely allows a particular zone to remain off during down times. This strategy not only saves the home owner money, it gives you complete control to efficiently warm you most used living spaces without comprising cost.

Choosing the best heating system for a new home or to add supplemental heat to a cold spot in your home now takes a little homework. The radiant consultants and designers at Warmzone have been trained in all of the latest heating systems to properly assess your project and prescribe a system that will add value to your home inside of your budget. Contact us by phone or email to learn more about your home heating goals and we will sell you a heating system that works for you.

Articles

Driveway Snow Melting Cable

Automated, Maintenance Free Heated Driveway Systems

We’re getting close to the time of year when we can put away the snow shovels and snow blowers. Or, were you one of the lucky ones who enjoyed the services of a radiant heated driveway this year?

Electric snow melting systems have proven their value in cold climates throughout the country, particularly during the brutal winter of 2009-2010. Designed for convenience and rugged reliability, these automated snowmelt systems lie in wait to ambush the white flakes as they silently descend from the gloomy sky. Okay, maybe I’m being a little dramatic and falling into my romance novel writing mode, but you get the point. The system melts the snow before it even has a chance to stick.

Driveway with heated tire tracks

Heated driveway systems include an aerial or pavement mounted snow sensor that detects the impending snow barrage and signals the control unit, which then sends power to the ClearZone heat cable, heating the driveway. After the storm, the driveway remains warm for a period of time, ensuring that it is clear of ice before it automatically shuts off. More often than not, this all takes place before you’ve even slipped on your Daffy Duck slippers or poured your first cup of Joe. Isn’t technology great?

In addition to the convenience (as if that wasn’t enough), heated driveway systems increase the value of your property and are friendly to the environment. Using renewable energy, electric heated driveways eliminate the need for abrasive, and often damaging, snow removal methods as well as the use of harsh snowmelt chemicals that harm nearby grass and other vegetation. So naturally, there’s no salty runoff from your driveway filling your street gutters. Ya gotta love that!

ClearZone heat cable is the preeminent snow melting cable on the market, and features the most impressive manufacturer warranty in the industry. Whether embedded in concrete, asphalt or under pavers, ClearZone cable has a proven track record for a wide variety of applications, and is a favorite among contractors and professional builders. It’s no surprise then that it is most commonly chosen by homeowners.

Radiant snowmelt systems have been around a while now but are continually gaining popularity because of their affordability and effective, maintenance-free operation. Homeowners from coast to coast are discovering the many advantages and enhanced safety from installing a radiant heated driveway and/or sidewalk.

Heated driveways can be customized to fit your driveway surface and shape as well as your budget. While most homeowners install radiant heat throughout their driveway surface, you can also choose more affordable options, such as installing heat cable in tire tracks. Or, simply heat only the areas that you use. Warmzone professionals will evaluate your needs and provide several options and a detailed drawing of your radiant heat system. If you are going down the radiant heat road, make sure you deal with respected industry leaders who will guide you along the way.

Articles

Portable Radiant Heat Solutions

Turn up the Heat with WarmTrax and Powerblanket Heating Mats

Despite the arrival of spring, getting up at 6:00 a.m. to clear the snow from my porch, stairs and walkways is still a fresh and somewhat painful memory. With the help of some blazing innovations, like Powerblanket and WarmTrax portable snow melting mats, I may actually have something to look forward to next winter (but as of now, I’m certainly not rushing it).

Heated traction mats for outdoor steps

      WarmTrax heated stair treads

WarmTrax snow melting mats and stair treads are an inexpensive alternative to shoveling, snow blowing, salt and embedded systems, and require no formal installation. They’re designed to lie on top of existing surfaces to continuously melt snow and ice. Just roll them out over sidewalks, ramps, walkways, your front porch, even your stairs, enough to keep your mail carrier happy through the winter months.

WarmTrax snow melting mats are incredibly durable. An electrically operated heating element is sandwiched between two protective non-slip rubber surfaces that are designed to endure harsh conditions and provide excellent traction, while enduring repeated foot traffic. To get instant heat, just plug them into any standard 120V or 240V outlet after placing them over the surface you wish to heat.

Powerblanket concrete curing mat

PowerBlanket concrete curing and ground thawing blanket.

Powerblankets, another portable, extremely efficient portable heating solution, can also be used in the harsher months as curing blankets, for ground thaw or to warm barrels or engines. Made from rugged, non-flammable material, Powerblankets are durable enough to meet the demands of large construction projects or heat stalls, kennels and common areas where animals congregate during the winter months.

On construction projects, Powerblankets are often used to accelerate concrete curing or as a ground thaw and heating source for working areas, or to protect materials and heavy equipment. They are available in a wide variety of sizes and shapes to accommodate jobs, large and small (very smart indeed, for those of us whose jobs take us outside during the harsh winter months).

Both of these products are low voltage, durable and incredibly safe, even wet. It doesn’t take a construction professional to appreciate the power of WarmTrax and PowerBlanket products. Knowing that I have a portable snow melting solution at my finger tips provides me with a security blanket of my own. Mother Nature can unleash a barrage of white stuff during winter’s coldest months, but I only have to throw down the heating mat and plug it in to create a safe, ice-free walkway. Not to mention that rolling out my portable snow melting mat during a snowstorm is like rolling out the red carpet as far as my mail carrier is concerned.

Articles

Radiant Floor Heating

The silent operation of a radiant floor heating system free from drafts or flying dust particles is why these systems are becoming so popular. Home owners are searching for ways in which they can create a healthier environment to live in. Forced air systems can spread dust, pollen and germs while a radiant floor heating system uses electric resistance cables under the floor or PEX tubing that circulates heated water. Radiant heating systems warm floors to a comfortable level and naturally spreads its heat to objects in the room making your living areas much more enjoyable. Heating your home with radiant heated floors will make breathing easier and not dry you out. Imagine your floors without the need for vents or hot air blowing down from the ceiling.

Evenly distributed radiant heat in your floors will allow you to turn down your thermostat two to four degrees. This can reduce energy costs by 10-40 percent and can be verified with your local utility company. This setback to your thermostat can happen because a radiant floor heats from the ground up and delivers the heat through objects not air. This makes the lowest three feet of your home the most comfortable where a forced air system loses its heat to the ceiling and is required to heat from the top down. Delivering heat by air also makes it easy to escape and increase your overall heat loss.

A good analogy for radiant floor heating to forced air is a car that has heated seats and a forced air heater/furnace. The forced air in a car can dry you out and can become uncomfortable and is difficult to dial in because of the heat loss due to its air delivery. A heated seat will provide you with quick results and will remain warm long after it is reduced or turned completely off. The heated seat actually warms your body and the car seat, not the air. Forced air will over time will inefficiently heat objects but with the negative side effects of dry air, dust and pollen.

If you are interested in discovering your options for a radiant floor heating system call one of our trained representatives at 888.488.9276. Our staff will match your budget to a radiant floor heating system that best meets your heating goals.

Articles

Electric Radiant Floor Heating vs Baseboard Heating (Part I)

The Battle of the Home Heating Titans

For years baseboard heating has been the home heating system of choice for many consumers. Relatively cheap and easy to install, baseboard heating systems were installed in new homes in the 70s, and without knowing their other options, consumers have stuck with it—until now.

Radiant heated floors are quickly trumping baseboard heating as the titan of the home heating market. With its superior heating capabilities and maintenance-free logistics, radiant heating is persuading consumers everywhere to make the switch from baseboard heating to radiant heating.

Heated hardwood floor

By taking a look at how the two different systems work and their pros and cons, you’ll quickly see that saying goodbye to baseboard heating is the best decision you’ll ever make as a homeowner.

Weighing the Differences
While both baseboard heating systems and electric radiant heating systems use similar concepts, they are certainly not created equal.

Efficiency: Baseboard heaters aren’t exactly known for their efficiency. Heating a whole room with a baseboard heater can take quite a while, so you have to plan ahead if you want the room to be warm when you’re home. Because they take so long to heat up, baseboard heaters can quickly rack up your electricity bill.

Because electric radiant floor heating heats the floor and the objects around it, it takes half the time to heat up a room. Radiant floor heating is 100 percent effective, even at 50 percent capacity. Additionally, 100 percent of energy consumed by your radiant heating system is used to heat the room.

Installation: Baseboard heaters are relatively easy to install, but you have to waste a large amount of wall space to do it. What’s more, baseboard heaters are quite unsightly and noisy, and they must be strategically placed as to not conflict with furniture placement.

While heated floors require a little more elbow grease to install, it’s not difficult. Any motivated do-it-yourselfer can install heated floors. Additionally, radiant heated floors require no wall space, and you don’t have to worry about an unsightly heater sticking out of your wall. After all, what’s a warm room if it’s an ugly room?

Maintenance: Baseboard heaters use heat coils that need to be frequently vacuumed. Dust on the coils reduces the effectiveness and efficiency of the heater, taxing your heating bill and reducing the lifespan of the system in general. What’s more, a dirty heater makes your house smell like burnt dust—not the most pleasant smell in the morning.

Radiant heated floors require absolutely no maintenance. It’s as simple as that. There are no moving parts or coils to clean, and with the high-quality heat cable and thermostat, you can count on your floors to provide warmth for years to come.

Safety: Consumers with baseboard heating systems must take great care to keep furniture and other objects away from the heater. This not only interferes with design decisions, but also presents a serious safety hazard. A home in Colorado was destroyed after two suitcases leaning against a baseboard heater ignited, causing $50,000 in damages.

Radiant floor heating is guaranteed to be safe. The heating cable used is safely insulated and uses no high voltage, no combustible gases, and doesn’t create any hot surfaces.

( Continued; Read Part II )

Articles

Electric Radiant Floor Heat vs. Baseboard Heating (Part II)

The Top Benefits of Radiant Floor Heating aver Baseboard Heating

Read Part I

Radiant heated floors certainly beat baseboard heaters in several aspects, but perhaps the crowning feature of heated floors is the maximum flexibility they offer consumers.

Electric radiant heating offers three main aspects of flexibility that baseboard heating systems don’t: installation freedom, variety, and custom design plans.

Installation Freedom
Baseboard heaters can usually be installed in any room, whether the house is old or new. Finding the wall space, however, can be a tricky task. Additionally, having to rearrange your room to accommodate a baseboard heater is far from convenient.

Heated bathroom floor

Radiant heated floors, on the other hand, can go in any room on any surface. Whether you’re building a brand new home or sprucing up an old one, you can experience the benefits of radiant floor heating. Plus, you’ll never have to worry about keeping your furniture away from a dangerous heater. Feel free to place that fabulous new sofa wherever you see fit.

Additionally, heated floors can be installed on virtually any surface you can think of. Install one in your carpeted living room, your hardwood dining room, your tiled bathroom, or all of the above.

Variety
When it comes to choosing a baseboard heater, there aren’t that many options to choose from. All baseboard heaters are essentially the same poor quality mechanism that leave much to be desired.

With a Warmzone radiant heated floor system, however, you have a slew of high-quality products to choose from. Whether you choose ComfortTile heating mats, In-Slab heat cables, FilmHeat panels, or FoilHeat, you’re sure to be satisfied with your heated floors for years to come.

Heated bathroom floor

Custom Design Plans
Perhaps the greatest part about switching to radiant heated floors is the unparalleled service from Warmzone. When you are ready to make the switch from baseboard heating to electric radiant heated floors, the friendly Warmzone staff will walk you through the whole process from start to finish.

We’ll design a radiant heat system tailored to your specific needs. We realize your needs aren’t the same as the next customer’s, and we’ll design a customized plan of action (complete with CADs) to make sure that your radiant heated floors not only meet but exceed your expectations.

When it comes down to it, there’s just no reason to continue to wallow in your baseboard heating blues. Radiant heated floors offer superior efficiency, quality, and convenience that baseboard heaters couldn’t even think of touching. Say no to noisy, unsightly heaters and yes to cozy, consistent heated floors that will keep you, your family, and your wallet happy all winter long.

Articles

Hydronic Heated Driveways vs. Electric Heated Driveways (Part I)

Heated Liquid or Electric Current (Of Water and Wires: Comparing the Systems)

If you’ve finally put down the shovel and decided to purchase a heated driveway system, will you be going hydronic or electric? If you’re newcomer to the concept of driveway heating, hydronic and electric are both popular, and extremely viable forms of driveway heat, and Warmzone has the expertise, and experience, to help determine which is best for you. What these systems share in common—four key components you should be familiar with before purchasing a heated driveway system:

  • Heating Element (Embedded in the driveway)
  • Snow Sensor
  • Power Controller Unit (Powers the heating elements)
  • Power Supply (Circuit breaker panel)

Of the components mentioned above, the heating element and the controller distinguish hydronic heated driveway systems from electric heated driveway systems.

Hydronic Heated Driveway Systems: Going with the Flow

The heating element for a hydronic system, as you may have guessed, involves water. Specifically, hydronic heated driveways use what is known as closed-loop tubing to heat the surface of the driveway. The tubing is generally made of a flexible (and quite durable) polymer or synthetic rubber to circulate a mixture of hot water and propylene glycol (antifreeze). The fluid is warmed to temperatures between 140 to 180 degrees F to deliver enough heat for snow melting.

A water heater or a boiler is the chief source of heat for a hydronic heated system, which can be powered by any energy source that satisfies the btu requirements, including natural gas, electricity, oil, wood, or even solar collectors. A circulating pump and supply and return manifolds, installed in an easily accessible location, transfer the water between the heat source and tubing.

Installing heating mats for electric heated driveway


Electric Heated Driveway Systems: Riding the Current

Unlike hydronic systems, electric heated driveway systems use hot wires to heat paved surfaces. These wires are surrounded by layers of insulation, copper grounding braid and a protective outer layer of PVC or polyolefin to form a flexible cable about ⅛ to ¼ inch in diameter. What’s great about the heat cable is the flexibility of the application. Cable is available on spools as well as pre-woven into mats, and can be customized (cut) to suit virtually any type of layout, including driveways, ramps, common walkways and sidewalks.

After being triggered by the snow sensor, the control unit then powers the heat cable to warm the driveway. To reduce the power demands (and operating costs), you can install cables in just the tire tracks of a driveway rather than the entire area. Warmzone offers several options and provides complete system design services to ensure that you receive the best system layout and products for your project.

Continued (Part II)

Articles

Hydronic Heated Driveways vs. Electric Heated Driveways (Part II)

Comparing Electric Snow Melting Systems and Hydronic Systems                   (Read Part I)

Flow or current: What’s your Chi?

At this point you may have already drawn some conclusions about these systems. Here’s an “at-a-glance” comparison of both systems.

Comparison Overview: Hydronic Radiant Heat vs. Electric Radiant Heat

Hydronic Snow Melting System Electric Snow Melting System
Flexible power source options can lower operating costs. Only one power source. Circuit breakers may have to be updated to accommodate system.
Installation costs may be higher, especially if water heater or boiler is required. Easier installation. Also can be used in retrofit applications.
Higher maintenance. Propylene glycol fluid levels must be routinely checked. Low maintenance. Less moving parts and no fluid levels to check!
Requires heating of the water, resulting in a slower response time. Less warm-up time is required so the system response is faster.

Hydronic heat, depending on the heat source, can save you on operational costs. Hydronic cables or PEX tubing can be installed under a variety of mediums, including concrete, asphalt, stone pavers, etc. Successful operation of a hydronic heating

system depends on proper tubing spacing and layout. Tubes are usually laid out in a spiral or serpentine pattern for even heat distribution, making initial installation a bit more challenging than that posed by electric heated systems.

Warmzone’s expertise with hydronic heat systems is an invaluable resource, particularly if you choose to go with a hydronic heated driveway. However, with the complexity of hydronic heat installation comes a large price tag, especially if a hot water heater or boiler is required.

Heated driveway

   Electric heated driveway system in concrete.

ClearZone electric heated driveway systems are generally more efficient than hydronic systems. Electric cables heat up instantaneously, whereas water within hydronic cables must be heated up before the snow begins to melt. Installation of electric systems is fairly simple for the “do-it-yourselfer”, and heat cable is also available pre-spaced and woven into mats, which can be easily rolled out to heat tire tracks or an entire driveway. This flexibility is invaluable in retrofit applications, where hydronic system installation is more evasive, and as you would imagine, costly.

Hydronic systems may offer a lower operating cost than electric systems because they can run using the cheapest power source, such as natural gas, coal, propane, etc. Hydronic snow melting systems are a reliable means for heating driveways and parking areas, but the “current” trend seems to be swinging to electric radiant heated driveways. The systems are easy to install, heat instantaneously and there is no maintenance or upkeep required to assure top performance. Installation options are numerous, whether you choose to heat your entire driveway, or roll out heating cable tracks to heat just where your tires hit pavement.

Warmzone’s ClearZone heating cables are built specifically for heating driveways, sidewalks and other common areas to melt snow and ice in the worst of conditions. Extremely efficient and virtually maintenance free, they have become the Warmzone customer’s method of choice for snow melting. Warmzone has a variety of products and the expertise to install or retrofit your existing driveway with a realistic electric radiant heated driveway solution that’s equally energy efficient and cost effective, so you can put down your shovel, for good!

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Radiant Heaters

Radiant heating, as opposed to warm air systems (such as a forced air unit heaters), deliver the source of heat to the floor level, not the ceiling. And since warm air rises, heating the floors proves to be the most efficient means of heating living areas.

Radiant floor heating or radiant energy is the oldest form of heating used to provide comfort and is the basis for all heating systems. Radiant energy is totally pure radiation and is absorbed by an object without physical contact with the heat source or by heating the surrounding air, as is the case with convective, forced air systems.

Under floor heaters were first used by the Romans. Initially the preserve of the rich, under floor heating became increasingly commonplace in public buildings and villas, particularly in the colder regions of the Roman Empire. The Roman system was based on hypocausts, comprising ducts that underlay the floor (itself built on raised brick piles) and flues that were built into walls. Hot air or steam from fires circulated up through this system, warming the floor and walls, with heat passing into the rooms.

More specifically, the floor was laid out as series of concrete slabs acting as radiant heaters supported by columns of layered tiles, with a furnace at the bottom of one exterior wall. By placing the fire here, the draught would take the radiant heat under the floor, and up through the walls to radiant heater chimneys located in the corners of the room.

Today we recognize the brilliance of the Romans and Koreans as early adopters of radiant heating, as the technology is still a desired method for delivering comfortable and efficient heat in our homes. Now we have radiant heaters using electric resistance cables that are constructed of highly rated materials and feature manufacturer warranties of up to 25 years.

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Outdoor Radiant Heating Systems

Following the trends of the indoor heating market, where radiant heating systems have been used for decades, the great outdoors is warming up, too. Radiant heat warms the floor and any object in contact with the floor to distribute an even, no-draft heat. Outdoor settings like patios or pathways leading to a hot tub can now benefit from using a traditional hydronic radiant heating system or even more intriguing is the emerging trend of embedding electric heating cables to provide that desired surface temperature. Raising the surface above 38 degrees will conveniently remove any snow or ice and allow you to use your outdoor living areas more often.

Outdoor heating systems (snow melting systems) are more suited towards new construction since these electric heating cables are actually embedded in the concrete or placed in a sand bed directly under brick pavers. Ambitious do-it-yourselfers will have no problem laying out the cable and preparing them for a certified electrician to do the final hook-up. Outdoor heating systems have always been efficient in delivering heat; the problem has been shutting them off when the job of removing snow from a driveway or outdoor patio is complete.

Recent designs in aerial sensors and surface mounted sensors make these outdoor heating systems cost effective to operate. Automated sensors detect the combination of precipitation and cold temperatures and activate the outdoor heating systems during inclement weather conditions and then automatically turn off a few hours after the storm. Manual operation of these outdoor heating systems can also be used to spot heat your driveway or patio if additional heat is required.

Obviously, an outdoor heating system is not for everyone. Those who live in warm climates year round will not be well served. However, think of those residents in New York, Illinois and even Colorado and Utah with long steep driveways or exposed sidewalks. Even businesses are adopting outdoor heating systems to curb their liability to slips and falls. Sidewalks, entryways and even loading docks are benefiting from embedded heating systems as an effective way to remove pesky ice and snow hazards.