As great as radiant floor heating was, in the past one of the drawbacks was how much square foot coverage you can have with your heated floor mats which could be powered under one thermostat.  It used to be, that with a 120V radiant floor heating system, you could cover about one hundred and fifty square feet, and with a 220V radiant floor heating system, you could cover about three hundred square feet.  If you wanted to cover additional square footage with in floor heating, you would have to add another thermostat  – or perhaps add a relay to the system.  Neither of these things was a huge drawback – however, you could not control large areas of radiant floor heating, or even whole houses, with the use of just one thermostat…..UNTIL NOW!  Infrafloor has introduced a nifty little device called a “power module”, which is manufactured by OJ Electronics in Denmark.  It is only compatible with OJ manufactured thermostats, which Infrafloor sells as well.  What this nifty little device does, is helps you expand your floor heating system coverage area INFINITELY (so long as you have the correct amount of power coming to your house)!  For a 120V floor heating system, you simply add one power module for each additional one hundred and fifty square feet you’d like to cover.  For a 240V floor heating system, you simply add one power module for each additional three hundred square feet you’d like to cover.  So now, whether you want to control one floor of radiant floor heating or a whole house – it is possible with Infrafloor’s new OJ Power Module!

When deciding on floor warming systems, there is a tendency for someone to lean one way or another, whether it is a free cable floor heating systems, or a cable on mesh electric radiant floor heating.  There are several schools of thought on this:  A simple free cable floor warming system is typically chosen for the following reasons.  Cost:  First, the material cost of the free cable radiant heat flooring is typically cheaper than the cable on mesh system, but this cost is often more than offset by the increased labor expense of putting in the free cable system.  Installation:

Unlike the cable on mesh system, the free cable system needs to be spaced properly and needs to be manually secured in its place.  You can either secure the cable with simple duct tape, or using the system provide (fix fast system) provide by Infrafloor.  The cable on mesh electric radiant floor heating simply needs to be unrolled, and lain in place, saving hours of time and effort.  The cable on mesh floor warming system already comes properly spaced, so the heat will be guaranteed to be even, and consistent.  Also- the type of sub-floor is important in deciding which system to use.  A wood floor is more friendly to the spacing system than is a cement floor, as the fix fast spacing system needs to be nailed or secured in some way.  Reaching difficult spaces that you would like to heat might appear to be easier with the free cable floor warming system, however, you can always remove the cable from the mesh on the cable on mesh system, thereby creating a “hybrid” heated floor system, made up of both free cable and cable on mesh in the same floor heating system.  There are many pros and cons to each type of radiant floor heating, but one thing they have in common is that, once installed, you will never regret the wonderful feeling of the warm floor on your feet!

Recently, a well-known east coast property management firm placed their order for heated flooring from Infrafloor.  Having a good source for in floor heat systems is a key element to be a top quality property management company.  In today’s real estate market, a company needs every extra edge and advantage in order to separate itself from the rest of the pack.  As a client looks at a potential space, heated flooring in key areas could potentially be the deciding factor on whether a space gets rented or not.  “When people come to rent a home or a commercial space – they are thinking about the wow factor, something that they can feel good about, and in floor heat is one of those,” says Vice President of Sales Stephen Kaempf.  “Also – they get used to the creature comforts of heated flooring and when it comes time to renew their lease, it is one of the many types of “glue” that keeps them in their place for another year or so”.  Also electric radiant floor heat can be a simple solution when heating in a certain part of a building might be inadequate.  “We had one property management firm that had a drafty area in one of the bedrooms.  Instead of the tenant turning up the thermostat and heating the whole unit – the property management firm decided to installed heated floors in the bedroom, thus providing localized heat where it was needed,” commented Steve Kaempf.  Property managers take heed – your customers love heated flooring!

In southwest Michigan, there is a small town that is recognized as Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation, namely, Buchanan, Michigan.  Buchanan is also named after the 15^th President of the United States- James Buchanon.  Now, President Buchanan did not enjoy radiant floor heating, (at least as far as we know), but residents today in Buchanan Michigan certainly are.  In-floor heat is a must in Buchanan, with those cool breezes in the summer and freezing winds in the winter which come off of Lake Michigan.  Radiant Floor Heating provides warmth and heat on the chilly days, and soothing, luxurious comfort on the warmer days.  Speaking of all those trees in Tree City USA – did you know that radiant floor heating does great under wood floors?!  “Our Infrafloor floor warming mat is easy to install under wood floors or laminates,” says Russ Dunn, Vice President of Marketing at Infrafloor.  “Simply install the radiant floor heating system the same way you would under tile, encasing the floor warming mat in thin set cement, and then let dry and install your wood or laminate floor.”  Nail down wood floors are a little trickier, in terms of installing radiant heat flooring, as you need to space your heated floor mats far enough apart to put sleepers which you will nail the wood floor down on.   After the sleepers are installed, you then put your thin set cement down level with the sleepers and you are ready to nail down your flooring.  “Be careful where you put the nails,” warned Russ, “and you should be fine!”

Anderson, Indiana is excited about under-floor heating – and boy is that ironic.  In 1897, natural gas was discovered in Anderson, creating the Indiana Gas Boom, and thus earning the monikor of “the Pittsburgh on White River” for the budding town of Anderson.  Well there is no more need for natural gas when it comes to heat (at least in our opinion), as electric floor heating systems become more and more popular in Anderson, as well as the mid-west in general.  Natural gas is used to fuel furnaces which blow air around the house.  Unlike in floor heat – where the heat begins at the feat and stays at that level, slowly warming upwards, force air heat quickly rises to the top of the room, creating an inefficient heating situation.  What’s more, because of the underfloor heating, your blood circulation is improved because your feet are warm, which isn’t the case with forced air heat.  What’s more- if you struggle with allergies, dust and pollutants blown around by the furnace may be just the thing that YOU DON’T NEED!  With electric radiant floor heating, there is no blowing, just beautiful, soothing heat, starting with your feet and warming all of the objects around you.  Furnaces starting and shutting down can also create quite a noisy situation, and with ducts situated in certain corners of the room, they can create a situation where you have heat in some areas of the room, and cool spots in the other areas.  Under-floor heating, by contrast, delivers the heat evenly and quietly.  So in Anderson Indiana, where natural gas was discovered, or in your town, it always make sense to go with radiant floor heating!