As I sit here right now I can hear the sound of dry warm heat being forced though the vents in my house. During the winter months, when the air is already very dry, this forced air heating system is especially bad for your skin. The older you get, the drier your skin naturally becomes and having warm dry air circulating throughout the house all day takes a toll on your skin over the years.

Another negative for forced air is that it also kicks up a lot of dust and allergens. The air is moving from room to room and this is unhealthy as it exposes you to more pollen and dust particles. Wouldnt it be nice to have a heating system that just warmed the air rather than move it around?

This is what radiant floor heat does. The two most common types of a radiant heat floor are hydronic and electric. Both of these types of radiant heat systems are installed beneath the floor and the only air that moves is the natural rising of the heat. Radiant floor heat is the safest for you and your skin as there is no air being pushed in and out of vents.

Hydronic radiant floor heat consists of pipes filled with water underneath the floors. The water is heated which in turn heats the floors. This type of system is best installed in a new home as it usually involves setting the pipes in some form of concrete. This is more difficult to accomplish if the home is already built and can be quite expensive.

Electric radiant floor heat involves electrical wires beneath your floor which, when conducting electricity, become heated. This is similar to the way your toaster works. The wires often come in pads and are usually easier to install than the hydronic version. Electric radiant floor heat is usually also cheaper to install but can be more expensive later on. Electricity is historically expensive and thus many people choose to have this type of radiant heating system only installed in their bathrooms or any rooms with cold hard floors.

These are some of the reasons why radiant floor heat is the healthiest type of heat. Besides being more healthy it is much quieter. Forced air can be quite noisy at night when everything is still. You can constantly hear the heat turning on and off if you use a thermostat.

If you ever have the chance to install or upgrade to a radiant heat system, it is something you should seriously consider and might make your life a little more comfortable.