[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/coopermech.com\/a-feel-good-gift-thatll-warm-your-soul-and-the-rest-of-you-too\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/coopermech.com\/a-feel-good-gift-thatll-warm-your-soul-and-the-rest-of-you-too\/","headline":"A \u2018Feel Good\u2019 gift that\u2019ll warm your soul and the rest of you, too!","name":"A \u2018Feel Good\u2019 gift that\u2019ll warm your soul and the rest of you, too!","description":"This Christmas, I\u2019ve decided to give my family a gift that they\u2019re going to love.\u00a0 It\u2019s an experiential present — not a typical gift that fits in a box.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see if you can guess what it is: It will keep you toasty warm which my daughter will like because she\u2019s always cold It will help keep allergies at bay \u2013 which will make my wife\u2019s nose very happy It\u2019s nice and quiet which my son will appreciate because he\u2019s a very light sleeper. My elderly dog, Murphy, will especially thank me for this family gift! Guess the answer yet?\u00a0 Here\u2019s […]","datePublished":"2018-11-30","dateModified":"2022-10-25","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/coopermech.com\/author\/the-coop\/#Person","name":"The Coop","url":"https:\/\/coopermech.com\/author\/the-coop\/","identifier":4,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb1eb163dafcaf971bc236237b85419f?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cb1eb163dafcaf971bc236237b85419f?s=96&d=blank&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Cooper Mechanical","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/docorthopaedic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/logo.png","url":"https:\/\/docorthopaedic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/logo.png","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/coopermech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Radiant-Heat-System-Installation-Process.jpg","url":"https:\/\/coopermech.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Radiant-Heat-System-Installation-Process.jpg","height":397,"width":900},"url":"https:\/\/coopermech.com\/a-feel-good-gift-thatll-warm-your-soul-and-the-rest-of-you-too\/","about":["BLOG"],"wordCount":803,"articleBody":"This Christmas, I\u2019ve decided to give my family a gift that they\u2019re going to love.\u00a0 It\u2019s an experiential present — not a typical gift that fits in a box.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see if you can guess what it is:It will keep you toasty warm which my daughter will like because she\u2019s always coldIt will help keep allergies at bay \u2013 which will make my wife\u2019s nose very happyIt\u2019s nice and quiet which my son will appreciate because he\u2019s a very light sleeper.My elderly dog, Murphy, will especially thank me for this family gift!Guess the answer yet?\u00a0 Here\u2019s one more hint:It\u2019s highly energy efficient so I\u2019ll save money on my energy bill which sounds good to me!My family is going to be DELIGHTED because I\u2019m giving them the gift of comfort for Christmas. \u00a0That\u2019s right, I\u2019m going to install radiant heat in our kitchen.\u00a0 Take it from the Coop, it\u2019s as much a gift for me as it is for my family.\u00a0 I\u2019m tired of everyone complaining about how frigid this room becomes in the winter.\u00a0 We\u2019re a family that doesn\u2019t wear shoes in the house so consequently, our tootsies get very cold walking on the icy tile flooring.For those of you who don\u2019t know very much about radiant heat, let me tell you about this very effective heating system.\u00a0 There are two main types of radiant heat:\u00a0 electric and hydronic (water-based).\u00a0 Both methods achieve the same goal, but since my background is centered on heating, cooling, and plumbing, I\u2019ll discuss hydronic-based radiant heat.Very simply, hot water is pumped from a boiler or water heater through a loop of flexible tubing embedded in the sub-floor.\u00a0 Because the tubing is distributed over the entire surface of the floor, the resulting heat comes up through the floor and directly warms anything that comes in contact with it from the ground up\u2013 like toes!\u00a0 The warmth is uniform so there aren\u2019t any drafts or dead-spots which is often the case with conventional heating units like ducted forced hot air systems that circulate warmth by blowing heated air around the room.\u00a0 Of course, we all know that hot air rises so the portion of the room near the ceiling may be toasty warm with forced hot air, but the area near the ground, where you and I usually reside, is often cooler.\u00a0 Contrast that with radiant heat which starts at the floor and gravitates up so the bottom-half of the room is enveloped in warmth.\u00a0 What\u2019s more, people often feel more comfortable with their thermostat set at a lower temperature \u2013 up to 5\u00b0F lower \u2013 trimming your energy bill for that area. In fact, according to the US Dept. of Energy, radiant heat is more energy efficient than baseboard heating and usually more efficient than forced-air heating because it eliminates duct losses.Besides the enhanced comfort-level and energy efficiency of hydronic radiant heat, there are other very tangible reasons to consider radiant heat:Radiant heat is totally quiet. There is no whooshing sounds of air as it circulates around the room and no mechanical noises as the furnace turns on and off.It is particularly beneficial for people who suffer with allergies or asthma. Since radiant heat doesn\u2019t blow warm air around the area, particles such as dust mites, pollen, pet dander, mold spores, and bacteria aren\u2019t disturbed.Radiant heat is easy to zone with individual programmable thermostats, enabling different rooms to be adjusted as desired.You\u2019ll never experience drafts, uneven temperatures or static electricity \u2013 just unwavering warmth because radiant heat consistently transfers heat to people and objects.Naturally, the process of installing radiant heat is super simple during construction or remodeling if the flooring needs to be removed anyway. Subflooring can even be purchased with radiant tubing already embedded into it.\u00a0 This particular product is more expensive, but the labor cost to install is much lower.\u00a0 For those of us who are not planning a major renovation, radiant heat can often be retrofitted in an area without disturbing the existing flooring by installing it from underneath.\u00a0 For example, since my kitchen is on the first floor with an unfinished basement on the ground floor, I\u2019ll simply install radiant heat from below.\u00a0 In any case, it\u2019s a very versatile heating solution that can be utilized under many types of popular flooring such as tile, wood, vinyl, laminate, concrete and carpet.To tell you the truth, we\u2019ve installed hundreds of radiant heating systems over the last 40+ years here at Cooper Mechanical, but I never thought to install it in my own home!Well, never say never \u2013 instead, say Ho! Ho! Ho!\u00a0 Luxurious warmth, here we come!"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"A \u2018Feel Good\u2019 gift that\u2019ll warm your soul and the rest of you, too!","item":"https:\/\/coopermech.com\/a-feel-good-gift-thatll-warm-your-soul-and-the-rest-of-you-too\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]