If you are planning a major home renovation or are planning to build an extension on your home you may want to think about making it a green one. You can help to lower energy bills and protect the environment by being careful about the materials and technologies that you use in your home. Here are a few options that you may want to consider.

A strong foundation is important
A strong foundation is important if you are planning an extension on your home. Often, these are made out of cement and are fairly standard in their construction. It is possible to decrease the impact that a foundation will have on the environment. If you want to help ensure your home is as well-insulated as possible you should consider using earth or straw in the construction of your foundation.

Straw and earth can act as natural insulation that will help you lower your heating and cooling bills. Because it looks the same as a standard foundation you may not be able to tell the difference between your new, energy efficient foundation and the one that was part of your original home.

You can also tie energy efficient heating systems into your extension. A heat pump can help to heat your home affordably and reliably and will not impact the environment in an appreciable way.

Insulating your new extension
Additional living space needs additional insulation in order to help keep the temperature at a comfortable level. You do not want to ruin the energy efficient nature of the rest of your home by under-insulating your new extension. Luckily, there are several different insulation materials that are quite energy efficient.

One option is insulation made from spun glass. This insulation traps air in much the same way that traditional fiberglass insulation does. The glass for the insulation is obtained by recycling glass bottles. Another type of environmentally friendly insulation is made from paper. If you have constructed your foundation using straw or earth you may find that you do not need to add as much insulation to the walls and air pockets in your extension.

Once you have finished the construction of your extension it will be time to decorate it. You can then choose flooring materials and paint that will also not have an impact on the environment or your own health. You will end up with a beautiful extension that will add value and functionality to your home.

If you are interested in building a green home or renovating an existing structure so that it is more environmentally friendly there are many choices that you need to make. One important decision is what kind of flooring you use in your home. There are many options to choose from and the key is to learn more about them and choose the option that is best for you.

What makes certain flooring materials “greener” than others
There are several different criteria that make certain flooring materials greener than others. One is that they do not release harmful chemicals into your home. The other is that they do not use a large amount of water or energy in the manufacturing process. Another is that it is made from materials that are salvaged or recycled and thereby conserves natural resources.

You want to make sure that your flooring materials do not emit any harmful chemicals. The emission of these harmful fumes is known as off-gassing. Studies have shown that some housing materials can severely contaminate the air in your home. In some cases it means that the air inside a home can actually end up being more contaminated or polluted than the air outside may be.

Flooring options you may want to consider
The type of flooring you will want in your home often varies from room to room. For example, you may love the idea of wooden flooring in a living room, family room or bedroom but want to use other materials in rooms such as kitchens and bathrooms. Therefore, you may need to source out several different types of flooring materials so that your home is as functional as possible.

If you are looking for flooring for a kitchen or bathroom you may want to consider concrete flooring. This can be made with recycled industrial ash so that it is more environmentally friendly. Good quality linoleum flooring that is not made from synthetic vinyl is a surprisingly eco-friendly choice. It will not off-gas (emit harmful gasses) and is very durable. It is also made from organic materials.

You may want to consider bamboo flooring for a living room, dining room or bedroom. In order for it to be environmentally friendly you need to choose flooring made from mature bamboo. You need to make sure that it comes from a reputable green supplier and avoid flooring that is poor in quality and made with toxic ingredients.

Taking the time to learn more about green flooring options is worthwhile. That way you know that the floors you walk on are not harming your health in any way.

If you are thinking about replacing the heating system in an existing home with an environmentally friendly alternative, or you are considering building a home that has a green home heating system right from the beginning, it can be difficult to tell which systems would be right for you. Here is a look at some fairly common green heating methods as well as information that will tell you which systems may be better for your needs.

Forced air systems
Many homes have forced air heating systems. In any forced air system, a furnace warms air. Green fuel sources such as wood pellets or other biomass fuels can be burned in order to warm the air. A thermometer is placed in one room of the home and monitors the temperature. When hot air is needed, a blower pushes the warmed air through a series of ducts. It then comes out in various rooms via vents in the floors or walls.

These systems can also be augmented by a heat pump. This pulls heat out of the earth or nearby water in order to warm the air. They can also be used along with a central air conditioning unit in order to keep a home cool when warmer weather arrives.

These systems can be expensive to install if a home has always had baseboard or radiator heating as ducts will need to be placed in the walls. They can also be a problem for families where allergies are an issue. Dust and mold spores can be blown throughout the home. This is something that can be problematic for many individuals.

Hot water radiators
Many homes have radiators which produce heat. Hot water travels through pipes to radiators in different rooms of a home or apartment. The heat radiates out through the metal radiator and can warm a home quite efficiently. If green heating is important, a wood pellet boiler can be used instead of an oil or natural gas boiler. This type of system would also work well using solar heat as a method of warming the water.

This heat source is also more expensive to install in a home that had previously utilized another form of heating as pipes will need to be run from room to room. Radiators can leak which may also be an issue in some cases. However, there are many benefits to this type of heating system. It can be controlled on a room by room basis which can cut down on energy waste. It also does not allow allergens to flow through the home as easily.

In floor heating
In floor heating has become much more popular in recent times. A flexible tube is run in the subfloor and the actual flooring is placed over top. Water is heated using a boiler or solar energy and runs through the tubing when heat is needed in a particular room. The heat source can be from biomass sources, a heat pump or even solar panels.

The main advantage is that there are no vents so there are no restrictions on furniture placement. Radiant heating tends to allow air to retain more moisture than with forced air heating. As well, a room is heated evenly so there are no cold or hot spots to worry about.

Making the decision about which heating system to use is not difficult especially if you have an experienced heating specialist to talk to about your options.

If you want to heat your home efficiently and affordably, there is an option that you may want to consider. Opting to use a radiant heating system that warms the floors in your home and, from there, the air can actually be one of the most environmentally responsible ways of keeping your home at a comfortable level. Here are a few advantages that you may not have considered.

Heat sources are almost all environmentally friendly

Like any other heating system, a radiant heating system requires a heat source in order to warm the interior of a home. There are various ways of getting the heat that you need and, with a radiant heating system most if not all are environmentally friendly. Some of the potential heat sources include:

• Wood pellet boilers. These are a carbon neutral way of providing heat to your radiant heating system. The fuel is compact, readily available and supports local economy as it can be produced locally.
• Geothermal power. A heat sink can draw heat out of the ground surrounding a home and transfer it to the fluid in the radiant heating system. It is a renewable resource that does not generate pollution.
• Solar power. A solar water heating system can easily provide the warmth that a radiant heating system needs in order to work effectively. Whether you use a traditional flat panel system or an evacuated tube system it can be easy to warm a home using renewable solar energy.

Other benefits to radiant heating systems

There are a number of other advantages or benefits to radiant heating systems as well. The systems are affordable to install and do not require much in the way of maintenance. Other benefits to using a system such as this to heat your home include:

• Increased moisture content in your home. Forced air systems can dry the air, requiring the use of a humidifier in order to keep a home feeling comfortable. Radiant heating systems provide a moist heat that can feel more comfortable than a traditional forced air system.
• Lack of allergens and mould. Even though there is an increased level of humidity in the home, there is less issue with allergies. Ductwork provides a prime area for dust and mould to gather. This can cause problems for individuals who have allergies.
• Less of a problem arranging furniture. Because there are no vents or ductwork, there are no problems with arranging furniture. As well, there are no issues with cold spots as an entire room is heated evenly.

Learning more about radiant heating systems and heating a home with hot water can be an advantage for any homeowner. Speaking with a qualified and experienced installer will help you decide which method is right for your needs.

If you are considering an affordable and versatile heating system for your home you may want to consider an under floor heating system. These are becoming much more popular due to the number of advantages that they offer over traditional forced air systems. Here is a closer look at these systems and the advantages that you can enjoy when compared to forced air systems.

What an under floor heating system is

An under floor heating system is exactly what it sounds like. Tubes are run underneath traditional flooring and heated fluid is run through them. The tubes are generally made out of plastic or other flexible but durable materials. The heated liquid transfers the heat to the flooring material above and it radiates into the room from there, warming the air and keeping a home extremely comfortable.

The fluid is driven by a pump and is heated using a variety of different methods. Some sources of heat for an under floor heating system include heat pumps, solar heating panels or boiler systems. Boilers can be powered by biomass fuels or standard fossil fuels. The fluid is pumped through the system by a pump and is controlled by a thermostat in much the same way that a forced air system would be.

In the past, under floor heating systems were unreliable and the types of flooring materials that could be used were limited. Newer systems are reliable, efficient and can be used with different flooring materials.

Advantages to an under floor heating system

There are a number of advantages to an under floor heating system and these advantages have many people looking seriously at these systems for their own homes.

One of the main advantages is that there is no ductwork. This means that there are no areas for dust, mold and allergens to build up. In a forced air system, the movement of air through ductwork can stir up allergens and cause problems for people with respiratory ailments.

Another advantage is that there are no vents in the floor or walls. This means that there are no limitations to where furniture or other items can be placed. In a standard forced air system, it is necessary to avoid placing anything over ductwork since this can cause a system to heat your home less effectively. Hot air can also damage furniture that has been placed over a vent.

With under floor heating, there are no cold areas or unevenly heated areas. This means that a home is much more comfortable than it would be with a traditional forced air system.

Under Floor heating (also known as UFH) is about the best heat distribution terminal arrangement in your home space. The energy sources electricity, warm boiler water or solar energy may be used in the system as media for generating heat under floor for this purpose. Naturally therefore, the three types adopt three different technologies.

Further, of the three, electricity is generated most of the time with non renewable resources such as fossil fuel. The boiler hot water is too generated mostly using natural gas, LP gas, or oil due to convenience and availability. Only solar energy is truly a renewable source of energy.

However, analysis by the industry show electricity is undoubtedly the cleanest and most efficient (a near 100%) at the point of usage.

Efficiency of Electrical UFH

It is surprising to note the observations of independent experts that since the year 2003 the price of gas has risen by 92%. In contrast the cost of electricity has risen only by 54%.The reversal of this trend in the near future is unlikely due to the electricity generation from renewable fuels and the so far untapped technologies that are currently being pursued.

Typically a bath room which is generally heated for most of the time of the day (say for example 10 hours) will consume only about 2 units (kW-hr). And annually the power needed will still be less than 1kW.
As things stand today, the annualized cost for gas is 1.5 more than for electricity according to the industry.

Can Electrical UFH efficiency be further Improved?

• Use of proprietary insulation boards have shown to reduce the operating cost by as much as 50% in an electrical UFH system. The saving is said to have been achieved by reducing the heat up time by about 60%.The savings would enable you to  payback your investment in  about 2 ½  years which is really good.
• A special advantage available with electrical Under Floor Heating system is the flexibility in manipulating the operation or adopting the system.( All controls in any system  for that matter use electricity for powering it) .Microprocessor  operation makes a lot of hard tasks being made easy. The   use of sensors and a timer for monitoring or programming temperature at different locations is easily possible in the electrically operated heaters due to this. This would further enhance the efficiency. The zoning of the building is easily possible for convenient and energy saving usage of each. Come to think of it, you would only need to add a programmable thermostat to get all this.
• A good thermostat would further make it possible to accurately monitor your room temperatures. No more under heating or over heating to waste costly energy. Maintain your unheated rooms (for eg.  Living room, visitors areas etc. in the morning) at 15 ⁰ C, Heated Rooms (such as wet rooms like bath rooms or kitchens} at 21 ⁰ C and the other heated rooms like bed rooms at 18 ⁰ C will easily be possible while drastically reducing your energy consumption. This setting can be easily programmable to a different one in the evening or seasonally. In the alternative the whole   automation may be over ridden if the necessity arises.

Electrical under floor heating is a viable option for your high energy bills .The reduced energy consumption contributes considerably towards a smaller carbon foot print. The power losses of the grid distribution are beyond you and whether you use grid power or otherwise the losses are an inbuilt constant. But you can certainly use a clean, near 100% efficient electrically powered under floor heating system in your home in order to manage your home energy and green house gas emissions effectively.

Greentech.ie provides free consultancy on electrical, hydronic and solar energy run under floor heating systems for your home energy management and comfortable interiors. Their call save number is 1890 245 345. Call them for an appointment today. If you are on the look out for a dependable supplier and installer of under floor Heating systems our recommendations  go with Kinggroup.ie who  are available at call save 045 838 376. You can do no better than that.

Under floor Heating is a panacea for most of the problems faced by architects, interior decorators and the HVAC designers. As the saying goes heating and air conditioning should never be seen but only felt. Unfortunately due to a multitude of complexities faced by the above parties while implementing, in most of the existing and emerging constructions, the opposite has been the end result.

Designers’ nemesis

The Architects and interior decorators form their concepts for the mechanical systems and expect the mechanical services designer to twist and mould their creations to reality. A rather hard task, with the limited resources and implements available to them at their disposal you could say. What with energy and environmental conservation, cost cutting, minimizing carbon foot print etc. The bitter truth is that the traditional heat distribution terminal devices like radiators with their controls are ugly hulks in otherwise well designed and pleasing interior of a room.

Radiators are Inefficient

The facts are clear. The radiator is rather an inefficient and inconvenient piece of machinery. Not only that. They require regular maintenance done on them for best possible performance. The wall space they occupy not only spoils the décor but also waste about 30 percent of the room space. (The device may be small but air distribution patterns and maintenance space are things you cannot do without. It is nightmarish to attempt furniture placing  in such a scenario).

The radiator needs blowers for heat laden air distribution through out the room. Though relatively less noisy at first, as time passes by, the loosened components, wasted bearings, corroded and imbalanced blower blades, all contribute to increasing noise.

In reality radiators are stuffy, ungainly, uncomfortable heat exchangers which promote wasted heat through window and door gaps, walls, roofs, ceilings and other unexpected places. Wastes your energy, wastes your money too.

The way out!

Ever improving under floor heating systems (UFH) is one way out for the designers as well as the home owners. You can take it for granted that every square metre of the floor space of your rooms will be usable the way you want it.  Incidentally what is under floor heating?

It is a system where a very basic and simple heat exchanger is buried evenly spaced under the floor.  There are three main heat sources which are being utilized and according to which they are categorized.viz.

• Electricity
• Hot water (Hydronic)
• Solar Energy (together with electricity or Hot water supplementation)

Electricity for Under Floor Heating

The electrical energy powered UFH systems are simple and easily manipulated for obtimised energy utilization. Electricity at the point of usage being highly efficient the users save money and also conserve the environment. The heating elements are available in mat form ready to lay and connect to supply, functioning similar to an electric blanket.

However most of the times the electrical energy is obtained from fossil fuels which makes many frown on the system.

Hot Water under floor heating

A popular and efficient system where even waste heat and a lot of other renewable heat sources can be used. It is the most efficient and easily incorporated system for geothermal heat, heat pumps, solar heated water, etc.

The basic system has a minimum of 3 main components. Viz.

• The heat exchanger tubes  of  multi layered cross linked poly ethylene  (Buried in the floor)
• The hot water distribution manifold
• Thermostat.

In addition there are accessories such as clips, manifold/ major component mounting brackets, aluminium distribution plates, high density insulation, thermal storage tanks etc.

Advantages over Radiator systems

What ever the source of energy, all under floor heating systems display the following advantages.

• Aesthetically oustanding. You would not see any components of the system.
• Clean and convenient. In boiler water fed systems the two (boiler and floor heat exchanger) will be apart by several metres.
• A warranty of at least 25 years
• Evenly distributed room temperature without cold spots.
• Comfortable and pleasant indoor environment
• Programmable controls and valves to optimize operation and energy usage.
• Virtually Noise free

Kinggroup.ie and Greentech.ie provide free advice on  under floor heating systems operating on electricity  and condensing boiler water  supplemented by solar thermal energy. Feel free to contact them for appointments for free consultations on call save 045 838376 and 1890 245345 respectively.