Radiant Floor Cooling System

By using an integrated design team approach including architects engineers and contractors from the early phases of your project design your building will realize superior energy performance with rehau radiant heating and cooling systems.

Radiant floor cooling system. Radiant heat provides warmth from the floor up throughout the room without any cold spots or stuffiness in the area being heated. When radiant cooling is used in areas where solar gain will directly contact the floor then the cooling capacity can increase substantially up to 25 32 btu h ft 2. As the invisible waves of thermal radiation rise from below they warm up any objects they strike which radiate that captured heat in turn. Our system uses a combination of humidity and floor temperature sensing tekmar thermostats a tekmar 406 house controller and a variable speed mixing pump to ensure floor zones never see water temperatures that can cause condensation.

In a radiant setup the warmth is supplied by hot water tubes or electric wires buried underneath the floor. Homes built on concrete slabs are prime candidates for radiant heating systems and radiant floor cooling takes advantage of the same principle using chilled water. If condensation is possible in a radiant floor cooling application you have to have active water temperature control based on measured humidity levels. The air handling system must handle the balance of the cooling load.

A radiant floor cooling system will not solve humidity issues but installing a large or whole house dehumidifier can do this job very easily at about the cost of an ac. A radiant cooling system is designed similarly to a radiant heating system with minor adjustments in pipe diameter and pipe spacing. Radiant cooling systems have been embedded in the ceilings of adobe homes taking advantage of the thermal mass to provide a steady cooling effect. To summarize unlike traditional radiators which can make a room feel chilly at times and too hot at other times underfloor heating does not overheat instead it achieves the desired temperature set by you using an on the wall thermostat.

Radiant cooling systems typically use chilled water running in pipes in thermal contact with the surface. This is particularly economic in homes with existing radiant floor systems. The cooling capacity of the radiant cooling system is limited to about 12 15 btu h ft 2.