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A form of heating modelled on the sun

Published: 04/18/2023 11:19:38
Categories: Installer training , Radiant heating and cooling ceilings

What we copy from the sun

Only three things. A source placed above, a very large emitting area, and a moderate surface temperature. Those three characteristics are enough to reproduce indoors the sensation of a sunlit terrace in winter.

What we do not copy

The intensity. Direct solar radiation is far more powerful than anything a ceiling can emit, and that is not the aim. An indoor emitter seeks gentle, continuous warmth, not a localised peak.

Why the overhead position counts

Downward radiation reaches the shoulders, the head and the floor, that is, the surfaces that determine how it feels. An emitter placed low sees only part of the room and leaves thermal shadows behind the furniture.

Why the large area counts

The same output spread over twelve square metres produces a low surface temperature. That is what removes hot spots, the burning sensation close up and the parasitic convection along the walls.

What the occupant feels

Warmth coming from everywhere above, with no identifiable direction and no air movement. The air temperature can stay one or two degrees lower for equivalent comfort, which shows directly in the consumption.

The limit of the analogy

The sun cannot be adjusted. A radiant ceiling, by contrast, is controlled room by room and stops when the set point is reached. That is precisely where engineering takes over from inspiration.

The physics is developed on the page about what heats the earth, and the system on heated radiant stretch ceiling.

How a radiant ceiling actually works

Modelled on the sun

Unlike conventional heating systems, only a radiant ceiling works the way the sun does.

Heat spread from above

A radiant ceiling uses the ceiling to send heat downwards, much as the sun does at its highest point.

Why heat from above suits us

Heat arriving from above is the order the body is built for, and it is what makes a room comfortable.

Even radiation, nothing in the way

The ceiling is the ideal place from which to radiate even heat, with no furniture or obstacle in the path.

Lower energy use and better comfort

Heat from a heated ceiling spreads evenly, with nothing blocking it, which is where the saving comes from.

Radiation straight onto bodies and objects

Like sunlight, a heated ceiling radiates its gentle warmth onto people, objects, walls and floor, without changing the air temperature.

A meaningful reduction in consumption

A radiant ceiling saves energy because the heat goes where it is wanted rather than into the air.

Comfort, wellbeing and lower bills

By working the way the sun does, a radiant ceiling gives comfortable heat that suits the body, and uses considerably less energy doing it.

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