Water or Electric?

When you have the privilege of building a house from scratch and being there for all stages of its development, you have the unique advantage to make all the right decisions as to the way your house will conserve and dispose of heat, and you can, therefore, make a more environmentally friendly house.

An important part of any house, especially in colder climates, is its heating system. This usually varies from country to country, with Scandinavian countries, for example, traditionally using a wall radiator technology powered by hot water, while in the US electric heating is more common.

One of the most efficient ways of heating, although it represents a higher investment, is underfloor heating. The technology, as the name states, heats the house from the floor up, causing a much better heat distribution.

But even in the world of underfloor heating, there are two options to consider. You need to make a choice between electric and water underfloor heating, and they both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Electric underfloor heating is faster, less costly to install an more appropriate for small rooms, while water underfloor heating is more cost-effective and better for bigger rooms and houses, but needs a much higher initial investment.

Heat throughout the ages

The other day I was looking for a cheap(er) way to heat my house up during the winter months, especially my living room, which is relatively big and takes forever to heat up with normal space heaters. Talking about it with friends and family they advised that installing a water underfloor heating system would be ideal for me. I had heard about it and was actually considering it, so it was no surprise. What really surprised me, and it sort of still does now, is how old this system is.

Apparently it was invented first by Koreans in the Bronze Age, but a different version of it was invented by the Romans. It was of course only used by the very rich and in public places, but truth is it does date as back as those times. In fact, in the famous Roman Baths a system of water underfloor heating was used to heat up the floors and the walls of the saunas. The Roman system was so good that it was still used in Spain and other Mediterranean countries up until the Renaissance period and, most likely, beyond that. This Roman heating system, called the hypocaust, was even voted the most important heating invention by the British HVAC industry.

Take care when re-installing your toilet

As it happens, I didn’t know the best way to replace my toilet after re-tiling the bathroom. I hadn’t tiled close enough to it and I hadn’t fixed the gasket correctly. If I had ref-filled it with water it would have leaked everywhere too. So for those who are about to do the same here are a few tips:

Make sure that you tile close enough to the floor gasket. If you have to cut irregular pieces then don’t worry, the porcelain base of the toilet should cover it. Anyway, that is better than see untiled sections poking out.

Make sure that you remove the old wax ring completely before you fit the new one. Without ensuring this is done correctly you are sure to have leaks.

When putting in the wax ring kit bolts, make sure to put only the plastic washers underneath and the metal ones on the top. This will make sure that the toilet is pressed down correctly.

Finally, be careful with it all. It may seem a mundane job but if care isn’t taken then you could hurt yourself.

There may be things that I’ve missed but I’m sure that you will be able to figure them out. Good luck with it all!