Because of natural affect of "heat stratification" it makes it so that the wall thermostat, that is typically at about chest height for the average males - head height for females, needs to be set higher to feel comfortable. If you used an IR heat gun and went around rooms checking actual temperatures of floors, walls and ceilings, you'd see there is a big difference between the colder floor temps and what the wall thermostat is reading. Yet, we tend to set the room temps by that wall thermostat reading that is really just the temperature stratification zone equal to the upper part of our bodies.
With radiant heat floors, the heat source is down at your feet. You feel warm starting at your feet, on up. Therefore, you can set that same wall thermostat at least 4-6 degrees colder and still be more comfortable than you would with any forced hot air, base boards, or old style cast iron radiators.
I lived with all of the different heating systems, including old cast iron base boards, and when it came time to build my shop building I went with radiant heat floors (both wood and poured concrete) for several reasons it being better than any other type heating system, . . . dare I say, . . even better than base burners !
The only problem we had with radiant heat in the shop was staying awake laying on a warm floor while working under a car !!!!
Paul
