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Underfloor Heating The Origins
Gaius Sergius Orata – The re-discoverer of central heating
Gone and now forgotten we no longer know who it was, who first thought of the idea of warming buildings by central heating.
But in the palace of the kings of Arzava, whose kingdom in the South West of Anatolia reached its golden age about 1200
BC, ducts have been discovered which suggest that there must have been a central heating system in use.
In the North of China and Tibet too a form of pavement and Underfloor heating using braziers and known as Ti-Kang and
Koa-Kang already existed over 4500 years ago. In the second century A.D. a Roman fish and oyster breeder, Gaius
Sergius Orata by name, re-discovered the principles of central heating and first used them for heating bath houses. His
method used smoke and heated air from a fire lit at the side passing through Underfloor heating ducts laid beneath a raised
floor. This “Hypocaust” system (from the Greek term meaning “heating from below”) was later extended by the Romans to
whole buildings.
With the use of modern materials and techniques Radiant have pioneered and developed the low temperature water
underfloor heating system as we know it today.
Physiology of Heating The purpose of every heating system is to provide comfortable indoor conditions, whereby physiological criteria are fulfilled.
For example it is accepted that to be comfortable within a given environment it is necessary for a greater degree of warmth
to be provided to the lower part of the body than the upper (warm feet – cool head). It is equally important that there is a low
temperature difference between the temperature of the air within the room and the surface temperature of the surrounding
walls.
The requirements for comfortable room surroundings are represented in graph form by the vertical temperature profile “ideal
curve” shown in figure 1. The various profiles show the temperature layers for typical types of heating systems, from floor to
ceiling. If we compare the temperature profiles of various heating systems occurring in practice, with the theoretical optimum
profile No 1 then we sometimes find pronounced variations. The temperature profile for Underfloor heating is the only curve
which almost perfectly coincides with the ideal.
By comparison heating by radiators only causes unnecessary high temperatures at head and ceiling level, while the floor
remains cold to the feet.
Expensive carpets are often used to counter the cold floor effect often experienced in many buildings whilst with Underfloor
heating you are free to choose from a wider selection of flooring materials.
Radiant floor heating makes it possible to achieve comfort conditions at lower air temperatures than would otherwise be the
case. This reduces energy consumption and provides a comfortable and healthy environment where people need it.
With today’s higher standards of insulation for our buildings high temperature radiators of smaller and smaller sizes can no
longer provide an even distribution of heat within the space, whilst Underfloor heating with low operating and surface
temperatures can provide a cost effective solution with lower energy consumption of our buildings.
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