Radiant Floor Cooling

Most HVAC design professionals are very familiar with the basics of radiant floor heating and how these systems work. Besides, many contractors and engineers are advocating for these systems due to their efficiency, quiet operation, and comfortability.

Surprisingly, some of these HVAC contractors and engineers have no idea about how radiant cooling systems work! Yet they provide the same advantages as radiant heaters. More importantly, they keep the floor cool on hot days, keeping the room comfortable. Best of all, radiant cooling is more energy-efficient than air conditioning units, since no fans or blowers are used.

This article looks at the basics of radiant floor cooling, including its benefits and drawbacks.

How do radiant cooling systems work?

The radiant cooling design uses the same principles as radiant heaters but in reverse. They absorb the thermal energy radiated from the room, thus helping to cool the floor. This energy is radiated by people, light, equipment, and other objects in the room.

Interestingly, there are radiant panels that offer both cooling and heating. This ensures that the room has the best efficiency and comfort all year long.

Like hydronic radiant floor heating systems, radiant cooling systems consist of water-filled tubes installed beneath the floor to control its temperature. These tubes are either laid into grooved panels on the wood subfloor/ concrete slab or embedded within the concrete slab floor.

As cold water flows through the tubes it lowers the floor’s temperature. The panels distribute the cool temperature uniformly through the floor, helping to reduce the temperature of the entire room.

So, unlike AC units, radiant cooling systems don’t introduce cold air to the living spaces. This eliminates the need for fans and blowers, hence ensuring a quiet cooling operation.

Radiant Floor Cooling design

A radiant cooling HVAC system can be broadly classified into 2 categories; radiant panels and chilled slabs

• Chilled slabs

Chilled slabs provide various benefits such as increased thermal mass and lower installation cost. This large thermal mass, usually referred to as TABS (Thermally Activated Building Systems), can be beneficial for certain applications. For instance, you can charge up the mass during off-peak electrical rate hours and use them to cool the room for the next 8–10 hours.

• Radiant panels

You can also achieve radiant cooling using specialized panels that are often attached to the walls or ceilings. Panels provide installation flexibility since you can place them in various places. For instance, you can integrate them with lights, dropped ceilings, and other electrical systems. More notably, panels have a lower thermal mass, allowing them to react rapidly to the changing loads.

Benefits of radiant cooling

• Improves indoor air quality

Radiant flooring cooling systems don’t have fans, blowers, or vents that can recirculate airborne allergies around the room. This improves indoor air quality and makes it an excellent option for those with allergies or asthma.

• Quiet operation

Another benefit of radiant cooling systems is that they’re incredibly quiet. They do not produce noise from window-unit or whole-home ACs turning on or off. For that, they’re a great option for light sleepers that get easily distracted by sounds.

• Thermal Comfort

Our bodies feel at their best when they can regulate about 50 percent of their heat emission through radiation. Thankfully, radiant cooling optimizes the surface temperature of your surroundings. This helps to efficiently absorb any unwanted heat from the room, providing a comfortable environment.

In addition, radiant cooling can be a great option for pets that enjoy cooler temperatures. On the same note, sleeping on the floor will give your dog or cat plenty of cooling comfort during the summer.

• Energy efficiency

A house with radiant floor cooling can save significant energy costs than the one with AC units. However, these savings will vary depending on the humidity level and temperature during the hot season. All in all, radiant cooling design is an efficient way to manage sensible loads in a room.

Drawbacks of Radiant cooling systems

One of the biggest potential drawbacks of radiant floor cooling is condensation, especially in humid areas. These systems don’t remove air moisture which can cause condensation to collect on the floor. This requires the installation of a dehumidification system to remove moisture from the air.

Although radiant cooling systems consume less energy than ACs, their initial installation cost could be higher. This will be determined by the type of flooring, installation method, and the cost of the chiller pump.

Also, radiant cooling may not be that effective through thick carpeting, since it acts as an insulation layer. However, they’re suitable for hard floorings like laminate, wood, and tile. Still, on effectiveness, radiant panels installed in ceilings are a better option than radiant floor cooling. This is because ceiling panels cool the hottest air, which is usually near the ceiling. Thereafter, the cooled air drops down towards the floor, lowering the temperature of the entire room,

Finally, if any part of the radiant floor cooling system fails, replacing it can be a lot of work. In a typical installation, you have to rip up the floor to access the tubing. And if the radiant floor tubing system is embedded in concrete san, the project will become even more expensive.

Final Word

As mentioned earlier, radiant floor cooling utilizes the same technology as radiant heating systems. However, it isn’t as common in residential buildings as it is in commercial facilities, particularly in the US. Yet it does a better job in keeping the entire room comfortable than AC units.

If you’re looking for a residential HVAC contractor in California to install a radiant floor cooling system in your home, contact Innodez Design & Engineering.