Radiant floor heating can provide many advantages over traditional furnaces and boilers. The home heating system, which uses panels under your floor to distribute warm air through your rooms, heats homes more evenly and efficiently than most conventional forced-air or radiator-based setups. Of course, like any component of your heat and air conditioning system, radiant floor heating can break down from time to time and require maintenance and repair. Read on to learn some common signs of trouble in your radiant floor heating and what steps you should take to remedy them.

Rule Out the Outside Factors

If your floor heating system isn't keeping your home at your desired temperature, the first place to check is not within the heat and air conditioning system itself. Rather, you should make sure you haven't introduced outside factors that can degrade the heater's performance. For example, if you recently redecorated your home, be aware that heavy carpets and large amounts of furniture can soak up and block the heat, preventing the air from being as warm as you want it to be.

Furthermore, keep in mind that heat rises, and the floor panel system is designed to slowly fill a room with warmth from the bottom up, so it can take some time for the air to reach the desired temperature. If you switch on your floor heating and still don't feel warm an hour later, it could just be the heat taking its time to expand throughout your home. In this case, a possible solution is to install a smart thermostat you so can ensure that your home is warmed up in advance when you need it.

Still Not Getting the Correct Temperature?

If your floor heating still isn't providing the warmth you’re looking for, there are a few other steps worth trying. Homeowners who have water-based floor panels can adjust the temperature of the hot water heater up or down to try to hit the sweet spot. If you like your showers hotter than your floor heat, you can also install a mixing valve to keep the floor from heating up too much.

Homeowners who use electric floor panels can overload their electrical systems if their circuit breaker isn't equipped to handle the power load that the heaters require. If your electric floor heating is consistently too cold or fails entirely, you might need to upgrade your breaker box.

When Good Floor Heating Goes Bad

Once you've ruled out all of these factors, it's time to bring in the heat and air conditioning professionals who installed your floor panels to find out if there's something wrong within the system itself. If you need help repairing your radiant floor heating, or need any other heat and air conditioning work, contact a qualified HVAC technician today.