Floor Heating
Floor heating systems has been used by ancient Roman civilization. This system was called hypocaust in Roman houses, establishments, public baths and temples. Hypocaust is derived from two Greek words: hypo (meaning below or underneath) and kaeiein (to burn light or fire). The earliest floor heating system was invented by Sergius Orata according to historians, although there were no evidences yet linking Orata to such.
The floors of ancient Roman building were elevated and designed to have air vents. Floors were built on pillars. Their floor heating system worked by releasing heated air from a chamber of burning wood and coals. Slaves were commissioned to maintaining the burning of wood. The heated air will spread throughout the empty spaces underneath the floorings and even throughout the walls. This made a very perfect radiant heating approach in the Iron Age.
The floor heating system was also used in heating public baths which were popular among rich Roman particularly the politicians and businessman. These places were heated to a temperature reaching 120 degrees F (50 degrees C). The edifice or heating room was placed near these establishments to provide ample heat. The process however was reported to be labor intensive and required constant attention since it burned so much wood at a faster rate. Slaves or household workers would need a very long rake to scrape out the ashes and force in new wooden fuel into the fire. The wood fuel would usually be coming from small branches and twigs measuring up to three inches in diameter and to two feet in length. Large logs of wood were discouraged as fuel since it burnt so slowly and needed more workforces. In some cases though, the heat produced was so intense that the Romans had to wear thick wooden sandals to protect their feet from getting burns.
The British however did not learn this technique in floor heating until centuries later. They were only limited to heating a single room with a chimney and fueled by wood. This however exposed the inhabitants of suffocation from restive smoke. The same was also applied in American floor heating until the 1950s.
The European Nations were then the top users of the radiant floor heating which adapted the ancient Roman way. This vastly influenced American homes in the 1950s and thus radiant floor heating system was first introduced. It made a good deal of heat preservation in homes. It made use of copper to conduct heat and pass on tube installation across the floor. Problems eventually rose. Copper interacted badly with the concrete that when concrete floor slabs expand and crack, the copper tubes also broke. Americans have lost interest and reliance in this heating system in the 1970s and resorted to other types of electric radiant floor heating systems.
In the mean time, the European households remained using the old floor heating method and constant advances in the system strengthened its salability in the market. Some American technicians however were optimistic in the potential of the traditional floor heating system. In the 1980s, there was revival of public’s patronage to the old floor heater. This time a new invention replaced the vulnerable copper tubes.
The milestone in concrete floor heating was greatly contributed by the use of PEX pipes. This improvement have made the conventional floor heating system into a more heat-efficient and cost-effective product among American household. The PEX pipe was a remarkable development. It is usually formed out of plastic, but it was no ordinary plastic as it expands when concrete flooring slabs do. And it does not crack or leak. Today manufacturers produced huge amounts of these pipes which are enough to fill the earth sixteen times.
Modern floor heating systems vary in different forms. There are systems that use solar power. And others require panels installed on walls and others act like blow driers that distribute heat in the air. Whatever the form, the history of floor heating has made us understood that above all features, comfort and protection should be the top main concern, as Romans did in their time.