While fire places and coal burning stoves become less popular options for heating a residence, 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. SunTouch ^®, for example, provides affordable heating solutions which add comfort, and save money as well. Not only do SunTouch heating systems cut down on heating costs, but they are also more efficient and eco-friendly as well. These heating systems are quickly replacing traditional furnaces.This is not surprising given the fact that they are not only more efficient, but provide a more comfortable environment as well.

One great aspect to SunTouch heating systems, 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. As a result, you get heat evenly distributed where you need it most, rather than having heat accumulate at the ceiling level. 

If you would like to know more about SunTouch radiant heating systems, contact their knowledgeable staff who will be happy to help.

Instead of rising like warm air, radiant heat starts by warming the coldest and closest objects from its source. This is why radiant heating systems are generally placed under floors in the form of floor warming mats. There are several different applications for floor warming mats, which include the following:

Bathrooms, Kitchens, and Entry Ways. Bathrooms, Kitchens and Entryways are ideals places to incorporate floor warming mats. Tile, Marble, Slate, and even Hardwood are floor coverings that are cold to step onto with bare feet during winter or summer. A radiant heat product can be installed under these surfaces throughout the home and take the cold bite out of these areas. Never have cold floors or feet again!

Basements. Basements are one of the top requested areas to add radiant heat. Due to the fact that forced air systems heat air and hot air rises the basement is usually the living space that remains cold. New construction is the best time to add radiant heat to a basement.

Whether you’re building a new home, or remodeling your existing home, radiant floor heating is a great way to add comfort and efficiency to the rooms in your home that are traditionally hard to heat.

If you’ve ever tried to update, or install a new heating system in an older home you’re well aware of how difficult this can be. A lot of older homes that were once heated by wood burning stoves don’t have heating and air conditioning ducts with which to deliver the heat to the different rooms of the house. Installing these ducts after the fact can not only be difficult, but is also very costly. However, there is a solution to adding heating to homes that have not been built for traditional forced air systems. This can be accomplished via floor warming mats, which are installed beneath your flooring.

Floor warming mats, as opposed to warm air systems (such as a forced air unit heaters), delivers the source of heat to the floor level, not the ceiling. Radiant heaters 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.

Because floor warming mats can be installed under carpet, hard wood, tile, or other floor or wall surfaces they make adding heat to any room of the home very simple. Furthermore, radiant heaters offer more comfort than forced air heating by heating the atmosphere from the ground up. Since heat rises, the heat will be more evenly distributed, thereby providing a much more comfortable atmosphere. Radiant heaters are not only a comfortable, and cost effective heating solution, but they make installing heating in older homes much more easily, and can save you a lot of time and money.

All winter long, you’ve probably been stunned by increasingly expensive energy bills. New technology in radiant heating can help you cut electricity costs. Now SunTouch ^® heating systems offer you a choice of a thermostat that is controlled by a floor sensor. This allows you to measure floor temperature and control the actual temperature in a specific room.

SunTouch radiant heating can be used and controlled as a primary source of heat or used as a supplemental heating source to add comfort to your living spaces. When a radiant heating system is turned on, energy is forced through a conductive material to create resistance or heat. For most areas an electric line-voltage system is used. These systems use a special thermostat that has an integrated breaker for safety right at the power source. They are available in 110 or 220 voltage. Low-voltage systems use the same voltages and consume the same amount of power as line-voltage products. The main difference is the use of a step-down transformer which reduces the voltage supplied to the heating materials. Due to their safe low-voltage current (8-30v) products can be nailed and stapled down to secure the product to the floor and are therefore useful for installation under hardwood and carpet.

To find out about how radiant floor heating works and how it can dramatically change your home’s comfort levels, simply contact SunTouch.

Floor coverings such as marble or tile are the perfect way to add beauty and style to your new home or remodel project. However, often times wood, stone, marble and tile appear inviting but are uncomfortably cold, especially during cold winter months.  Adding SunTouch floor heating is a great way to add efficiency and comfort to your home – from the ground up! SunTouch^® products give you the ability to feel the radiating power of the sun at all hours of the day, and especially during the months that are the coldest. Radiant floor heating systems provide quiet, constant, and uniform floor heat under cold surfaces leaving them comfortable to the touch and adding unseen elegance to your home.

While you may think that heated floors are reserved for those with big budgets, recent advances in radiant floor heating technology have made it possible to get radiant floor heating on virtually any budget.  No matter what the application, or what your budget, SunTouch offers a solution to meet your needs.  From new constructions, to remodels, you owe it to yourself to checkout the benefits and comfort of radiant floor heating. 

For home builders and renovators alike, there are a multitude of uses for floor warming mats in homes. Bathrooms, kitchens and entryways are ideals places to incorporate radiant heat. Tile, marble, slate, and even hardwood are floor coverings that are cold to step onto with bare feet during winter or summer. Floor warming mats can be installed under these surfaces throughout the home and take the cold bite out of these areas. Just think: you’ll never have cold floors or feet again!

Another area of the home that floor warming mats make sense is in the basement of your home. Basements are one of the top requested areas to add floor warming. Due to the fact that forced air systems heat air and hot air rises, the basement is usually the living space that remains cold. New construction is the best time to add radiant heat to a basement, but in many cases it can be accomplished via a remodel, or before getting new carpet.

Floor Heating Tip: Whether you’re building a new home, or remodeling your existing home, floor warming mats are a great way to add comfort and efficiency to the rooms in your home that are traditionally hard to heat.

Convert your cold floors to warm living areas by installing SunTouch floor warming mats. More and more custom homes and remodeling projects include floor warming mats by SunTouch^®. Warm floors make for comfortable social areas in homes and a desirable feature to any home. Originating heat in your home from the floors is the ideal method to warm your home rather than forcing hot air to the ceiling.

SunTouch is the largest and most recognized manufacturer of electric radiant floor warming products in the United States. Special attention has been made in these electric floor warming products by using a special braided twin wire design that registers nearly zero EMF when measured ½ inches above the wire! SunTouch mats were the first with this patented innovation!

The most popular area for SunTouch floor warming mats is in bathrooms, where you can replicate the sensation of sand warmed naturally by the sun. SunTouch mats can be installed under almost every floor covering including tile, stone and even laminate flooring. Include SunTouch floor warming mats in your next home or remodeling project.

Convert your cold floors to warm living areas by installing SunTouch floor warming mats. More and more custom homes and remodeling projects include floor warming mats by SunTouch^®. Warm floors make for comfortable social areas in homes and a desirable feature to any home. Originating heat in your home from the floors is the ideal method to warm your home rather than forcing hot air to the ceiling.

SunTouch is the largest and most recognized manufacturer of electric radiant floor warming products in the United States. Special attention has been made in these electric floor warming products by using a special braided twin wire design that registers nearly zero EMF when measured ½ inches above the wire! SunTouch mats were the first with this patented innovation!

The most popular area for SunTouch floor warming mats is in bathrooms, where you can replicate the sensation of sand warmed naturally by the sun. SunTouch mats can be installed under almost every floor covering including tile, stone and even laminate flooring. Include SunTouch floor warming mats in your next home or remodeling project.

Whether you’re looking to reduce your electricity bill to reduce the strain on your pocketbook, or just concerned about energy usage in light of environmental issues, you can start with your heating systems.  Heating our places is one of our greatest energy hogs.  By taking a few steps, you can cut down the amount of electricity you use to heat your home. You’ll save money, as well as have a favorable impact on the environment.

Get heat where it’s needed.  I remember a conversation I had with my grandpa a couple of years ago when he was complaining about his gas bill after a cold winter.  What surprised me is that the money he and my grandma spent heating their home for the two of them was almost the same we spent heating our house for a full family.  Why?  Because many forced air systems are inefficient, and don’t provide a way to heat specific rooms, while bypassing rooms that are used less frequently.  The ability to heat only the rooms you use could save you a lot of money during cold winter months.  It doesn’t make sense to heat a guest bedroom that is used a few times a year.   However, most forced air systems don’t give us a choice.

This problem can be easily solved, however, by utilizing radiant heat in the form of floor warming mats.  Floor warming mats give you the ability to heat specific rooms, without heating other rooms that are used less frequently.  Not only are floor warming mats extremely efficient, but the ability to heat only the rooms you use the most will help cut your heating bills, sometimes by as much as half. 

You don’t have to cover your ceramic tile, marble, or stone floors with rugs—install floor warming mats and show your floor’s beauty and allow them to give you the heat you want at the same time! The feeling of warmth under your feet when it’s cold and snowing outside is like no other.

Floor warming mats also offer you complete control of temperature of your home on a room by room basis. Not only that, their operation is completely quiet. Floor warming mats have even heat distribution and will not effect the furniture placement as it uses no radiators or heat vents to disperse heat. They are easy to install, very energy efficient, and can save you a bundle on your winter heating bills. Another way they save you money is that there are no expensive filters to change or clean.

With the added heat and efficiency come some additional health benefits as well. Floor warming mats don’t blow air around your house, so there is no dust or dirt forced into your air to breathe, which is extremely beneficial for those who suffer from allergies.

So how do floor warming mats work? They simply heat the floor with electrical resistance cables that are spread evenly and sandwiched between layers of durable fabric. All these options are easy to install yourself or can be quickly installed by your flooring installer. If you choose to install the system yourself, you will want to have a certified electrician hook up the controls to a programmable thermostat.