If you're a building owner or manager, you have to make tough calls when it comes to commercial HVAC. You can choose so many options to heat and cool your building, including radiant and forced-air systems.
Each system has a large impact on utility costs and the comfort level of your occupants. That's why Warner Service helps you choose which heating system is right for your commercial building.
Records show that underfloor radiant heating dates back to ancient Rome. Even Benjamin Franklin used it in one of his inventions. These systems have proven through the years to be an effective method of heating spaces, and it's enjoying a recent resurgence.
Radiant heating heats everything in a space. It warms the air and the floor, and then that heat is transferred to whatever touches the floor. It’s like standing next to a window on a winter day with the sunlight streaming in. You’re warmed by the sun’s radiant heat, rather than the air in the room around you.
Today, the most common radiant systems are hydronic. In these heating systems, water passes through a high-efficiency boiler and is heated to about 110 degrees Fahrenheit. It's then circulated through tubing under the subfloor. That hot energy from the water then heats the tubes. These tubes heat the floor and subsequently the rest of the room.
Once the floor heats to operating temperature, it functions as a thermal mass. This "mass" emits heat between the on/off cycles of the boiler that heats the circulating water. This effect smoothes out the uncomfortable temperature fluctuations of an on/off forced-air system cycle.
This method of heat transfer is extremely efficient because it's easier for water and objects to heat the air than for air to heat objects (or people).
Another benefit of this heating method is heat energy in hot air transmits through glass windows on a cold day. The electromagnetic energy of radiant heat reflects off windows and remains indoors.
Forced-air uses electric-powered blowers to move air precisely and at will. This heating system is inexpensive and more versatile than radiant systems.
For example, the ductwork in a forced-air system can also be used in the summer for air conditioning. Also, air filters are installed to improve the indoor air quality in a commercial building.
In a common gas-fired forced-air heating system, air is pulled out of rooms through return ducts by the suction of the blower fan. As the air is pulled, it's heated and drawn over the heat exchanger inside the furnace. This heated air is then distributed through supply ducts to warm every room in the building.
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