A couple of hardy friends struggled in through last night’s snowstorm for a glass of wine, and the conversation turned to ancient Roman heating systems.
Now, this isn’t quite as odd as it may sound, although there were no historians or engineers in the group.
It was synchronicity at work.
You know, those refreshing moments of multiple coincidence that come up from time to time — like how you can go along happily for months on end without thinking of, oh, scorpions. Then, in the space of a couple of hours, scorpions will turn up as an answer on Jeopardy, in copper as someone’s earrings, as a cabbie’s tattoo… that’s synchonicity.
See, this week (in my real world work), I was hired to proofread the manuscript for a delightful travel book, which devotes the better part of one chapter to the “spa phenomenon” — and that, of course, got started with the caldaria of those clean-freak old Romans.
So that was the first coincidence.
Is underfloor heating efficient?Energy savings vary depending on the insulation, usage patterns and personal requirements of the occupants [and] the cost of the power source… a 10-15% energy saving should be possible using insulated undertile heating when compared to conventional electric heating.
Then, on a CBC radio phone-in about energy conservation, the expert guest referred to the Romans as the inventors of radiant heating under the floor.
And that was the second coincidence.
Then, last night (for number three) our guests included Carl, whose oldest son is in the early planning stages for building his first house, and Jeff, who has just finished building his.
Given the wicked weather outside, and the previous two encounters with in-floor heating, I guess it’s not surprising that we all ended up talking about various ways to heat a home most effectively in an intemperate climate.
Jeff went for radiant in-floor heating when he built his house, last fall — I hung out over there to watch the installation, actually, and have to admit I was quite fascinated by all the calculations that go into placing the hot-water piping that snakes back and forth beneath the flooring. (My dogs like to go visiting there, so they can nap on the warm ceramic tile in the kitchen.)
Carl, of course, was taking notes like mad all evening. His girlfriend Carla (truly, that’s her name, and they’r eboth redheads — it’s soooo hard not to call them The Bobbsey Twins) recalled a childhood visit to Bath, England, when her parents took her to see the marvellous old Roman ruins.
We all agreed that putting your heat source down under the floor is definitely the way to go, especially in a house with heat-sucking high ceilings — no radiators! warm toes! — and the cold floors in this drafty old farmhouse of mine could have had something to do with that consensus…
Then the ring of synchronicity completed itself this morning, when I got up and checked my email… to find an invitation to review WarmUp Inc.’s site. (This is that review, by the way.)
And what’s their product? Radiant heating systems.
Right.
Of course. That synchronicity thing at work again…
Well, you can imagine — after last night’s I’d had just about enough of heating systems for the time being. (Yes, there is a limited to my home-reno geekiness!) Valves and pipes are just not that sexy… except maybe to an ancient Roman engineer? And frankly, most corporate websites are dull as ditchwater, no matter how valuable the products might be.
Like a good girl, however, I dutifully went to WarmUp.com and took a look. With only a small sigh.
Quelle surprise! I stopped sighing and started reading. Heck, I even bookmarked the site for future reference, and emailed the link to Carl.
Okay, the site’s not exactly eye candy. But someone with a lot of expertise clearly put a lot of time and effort into sharing their knowledge.
Electric Radiant HeatingInstalling electric floor heating takes only a few hours. There’s no need to dig up the floor and no messy concrete work — best of all you won’t need specialized tools or skills.
Just tape the radiant heating element to the floor. Tile over it and voila — you have radiant heated floors. It’s as simple as that.
One of last night’s debates was about whether you’d need an insulating layer between a concrete slab and the radiant heating pipes, for example: the answer turned up in mere seconds on the WarmUp site.
And I had absolutely no idea that electric radiant heating was an option. You can install a skinny little electric element — “thin as a nickel” they say — instead of hot water running through pipes (or steam heat, with slaves tending the fires 24/7, as the Romans did it).
It sounds ideal for a DIY renovation where you don’t want to dig down into the underpinnings of your home and/or change the floor level.
So, it looks like radiant heating is a possible option to consider for this old house, when it comes time to retire the current oil-fired furnace that groans and roars down in our cellar… verrrrrry interesting!
Gotta love that synchronicity… not so sure I’d have wanted to be a caladrium slave back in the heyday of the Roman Empire.
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