Radiant heating is the transfer of heat energy using energy waves. Heat energy in the form of radiation will always travel from a hot surface to a cooler surface.

Consider the Sun, the Earth’s only source of heat, which is 150 million Km away. The Sun warms the Earth from a fantastic distance purely using radiant energy. Even before the air is warm, heat from the sun can be felt, such on a clear winter morning, or on top of a snowy mountain. Warmth from the sun is instantaneous – you experience this when the sun emerges from behind a cloud.

Convection

is Radiant Heating?What

Radiant

So perhaps it’s no surprise that radiant heating is the form of warmth most comfortable to humans, whether from the sun, a burning fireside or today’s energy efficient, dis-crete heating systems.

With radiant under floor heating we em-ploy the radiant principle to directly heat objects, surfaces and people rather than having to warm the air first. This prevents wasteful heat stratification associated with convection of warm air, typical of tra-ditional heating systems.Many people expect heat to rise, but in fact it’s only warm air that rises, because warm air is lighter than cold air. Warming the air creates a convection current with hot air rising to the top of the room. The rising warm air is replaced by cold air and this creates a convection flow. With convection heating, such as traditional wall mounted radiators, much of the heat is lost to the unoccupied upper space of a room – this is a real problem in rooms with high ceilings or pitched roofs. In fact, the air temperature may increase as much as 3 degrees C for each vertical metre in a room. And of course, if warm air is lost through opening windows or doors, more energy is required to reheat incoming cool air.However, if the heat comes from a large area of floor, convection is reduced and most of the heat is then radiated.

It’s true - people feel more comfortable with radiant heating – it is after all our na-tural heat source and because we can di-rectly absorb the heat energy we actually feel comfortable at lower air temperatures in a room with radiant heating. This has been established by experience, test stu-

Using radiant heating reduces heat stra-tification and provides comfort at lower room temperatures, thereby saving signi-ficant amounts of energy. In fact, a radiant heating system may easily use 25% less energy than a traditional system when all savings are added up.

The principle of our underfloor heating is based on this experience.A large surface, the floor, is heated to a relatively low temperature (25-35°C), the floor emits a sort of natural infra red heat, very near to the human body’s heat.

... An even temperature all around the room:The heated surface is almost all the floor surface, thus the comfort of your heating system will be felt all around the room, wi-thout variation.

... Cheaper than conventional comfort, for various reasons:- 90% of the electricity you consume will be transformed into useful heat.- No servicing and maintenance.- Each room heated independently at the proper level with precise control.- The even temperature gives you better comfort, no need to overheat one side of

Highly energy efficient and • therefore cheap to operate.

High comfort levels - the na-• tural form of heat for humans.

A warm pleasant floor, com-• fortable to the touch.

Silent, no moving parts such • as pumps or fans.

No air movement unlike • convection systems so no dust circulation.

No drying of the air.• Hygienic, clean and discrete.• Simple to install and once • 

installed there is no maintenan-ce.

Long system life with no mo-• ving parts.

Safely installed in the fabric • of the building so no exposed hot parts to touch.

Secure from tampering.• Highly controllable.• 

EffICIENTRAdIANT HEATINg

CoMfoRTAblERAdIANT HEATINg

dies and is recognised in the European Standard for design of heating systems which allows the designer to calculate with lower operative temperatures safe in the knowledge that equivalent comfort will be maintained.

MAxIMUMENERgy SAvINg

benefitsof floor Heating

the room to have the other side «just ri-ght».- Studies have shows that it is possible to achieve comfort with Ilo TECHNology heating film, at an air temperature of around 17°C instead of 20°C in usual hea-ting systems.

Radiant heating responds instantly to demand. There is no need to preheat a room. Simply switch on and you feel the warmth immediately.

What

Control

Electric radiant heating is highly controllable.Response is instantaneous, with no delay in warming pipes etc. Very close control of room temperature is possible. A variety of thermostats and time programmers are available for any application.

Type of system?

There are three principle ways to install a radiant heated floor.

The heating cable is incorporated into the floor at the time of construction. Cable in rolls or presized mats is set into wet concrete, secured in place with plastic pegs and then covered by a level surface of concrete. When the slab is dry, the floor is completed. As with all floor heating, it is important that there is a layer of insula-tion below the cable to prevent heat loss from the back surface. After drying out and decorating, the heating system is ready to run. In this way, the whole floor surface, except areas to be covered by fixed furniture, will be turned into a large and gentle radiant heating source, ensuring even gentle and invisible heating for the room.

INSTRUCTURAl CoNCRETE flooRS

Radiant heating cable in the form of a pre-sized mat is placed on top of the concre-te sub floor and tile cement is applied. Tiles are then placed over the mats. As with all floor heating, it is important that there is a layer of insulation below the cable to prevent heat loss from the back surface. After drying out and decorating, the heating system is ready to run. In this way, the whole floor surface, except areas to be covered by fixed furniture, will be turned into a large and gentle radiant hea-ting source, ensuring even gentle and invisible heating for the room.

Radiant floor heating film is supplied in rolls of a variety of lengths. The heating film is placed directly on top of the standard underlay, secured in place using sui-table fixings, and then the floor surface is laid. This is an ideal solution for spot heating or retrofit applications.

UNdERdECoRATIvE flooR TIlES

UNdERWood oR lAMINATE floATINg flooRS

Heated cables or mats may be set in the concrete structural sub-floor or un-der tiles. For wooden and laminate floating floors a very thin yet technically advanced heat emitting film is used. Please refer to individual product data sheets for full specification and design information.

2

The MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (MIT), in a purpose designed room experimented to determine the

B

- In the second phase , the walls are heated and the air is cold (10°C): the occupant feels warm.

Thus, it was determined that the temperature of the surrounding objects (radiation) is at least as important as the tem-perature of the air.In the same way, you can feel the sun’s warmth in cold air.

the temperature of the surrounding air and the level of radiation. The experience of the MIT shows that infra red RADIA-TION is a very important factor.

Radiant Heating.

ILO Technology products are manufactured in France to exacting quality standards. We develop all our own designs and manufacture the complete product. ILO Technology have been specialising in the manufacture of radiant heating

Our heating systems are widely used in all sorts of buildings such as mobile homes, houses, commercial buildings, etc. We also supply many industrial sectors including the motor, marine and rail industries.

3 Technology and Pro-ILO

More and more architects, building engineers as well as owners are now choosing radiant heating for its many advantages.

A REALCOMFORT IN YOUR HOUSE!

Please, contact us for full details of our range of applications and case studies on common exam-ples.