For over 35 years I have been designing and installing Radiant Floor Heating Systems in homes in and around the Lake Tahoe area, Nevada and the wine country of Northern California.
Radiant heat is basically two designs; Hydronic heating through baseboards and radiators and heated fluid passed through tubing in the floor, commonly referred to as Radiant Floors. Radiant heat systems of any design have many advantages compared to forced air heating systems. One major disadvantage to Radiant heat is its recovery rate from a cold start. It can take several hours for a radiant heated space to get to a comfortable temperature. This was a common complaint with my homeowners in the Tahoe Basin because the average property owners are second home and vacation homeowners. In order to keep utility costs low, the heating systems were either turned off or turned down to a low temperature. Arriving to a cold home in the mountains after several hours, and in some cases several days, of travel can be more than an inconvenience to wait for the house to achieve a comfortable temperature.
One of the services I provided to my customers was to physically turn their thermostats up upon request. Timers were used by a few homeowners, however living in the mountains means your home is going to have power outages throughout the winter. This made timers undependable. In 1980 I designed my first remote control for radiant floor heat systems that allowed the homeowner to turn their heat on or off and up or down by using a touch tone telephone from anywhere in the world. Needless to say this was a big hit in our area for homeowners, business owners and property managers. This feature I designed and installed was handmade and installed by my technicians. It cost anywhere from $350.00 to $600.00 to install.
Today with advancement in technology and the increaseing demand in home automation the same system can be installed by the average homeowner for as little as $150.00. Temperature control has never been more convenient. Now you can access and set radiant floor thermostats using third-party home automation systems.
Home automation offers the convenience to control your entire home through touch panels as well as through an iphone or computer. This includes control over your gas water heater, the indoor climate, audio, video, lighting, and security.
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