Electric Underfloor heating - Good Enough for The Romans - Electric Underfloor Heating

Underfloor heating was first used by the Romans in the UK and other cooler parts its Empire. What was at first a luxury became an increasingly standard architectural feature of public buildings and private villas, and is now considered to lay alongside Rome’s greatest inventions. The Roman hypocaust heating system used pilae stacks, pillars made of tile, to raise the floor by typically 2 ft (60 cm). Heat was supplied by a small furnace, the hot air or steam created by the fires circulated through this system, drawn by a chimney, warming the floor and walls, thereby passing heat into living areas. The name hypocaust was taken from Greek and literally means "heat from below". The Romans were not the first to desire to heat the insides of their dwellings but until they arrived, the inhabitants of Britain only knew how to heat one room by the expedient of an open fire.

Modern under-floor heating recognises much of what the Romans learned over centuries. Radiant heat is arguably superior to convection heating – because for convection-based systems, once the air is warmed above the ambient temperature of the room it rises to the ceiling before descending as it cools. The net result is that for convection systems the head is warmer than the feet – a condition which can lead to discomfort.

Human physiology means that ideally the extremities of the body should be warmer than the head, the most comfortable condition is a floor temperature between 19 and 29 °C and a air temperature at head level between 20 and 24 °C. This is easily achievable with underfloor heating but impossible with fire/radiator based systems. The system developed over 2000 years ago was safer, more effective and more aesthetically pleasing to the more refined Romans. Current electric underfloor heating systems offer the same advantages and more, seeking to improve efficiency and effectiveness in our Today’s energy conscious climate.