Radiant ceilings in large volumes

A space where people sit on the floor

A toy library, a movement room, a children's library: the main occupants spend their time on the floor, not standing. That is exactly the zone a convection system serves worst, since warm air rises and leaves the first metre colder than the rest.

The problem of a reachable radiator

In premises receiving young children, an emitter with a high surface temperature raises a safety question. French studies of domestic burns show that the hands of very young children are involved in three quarters of cases. Putting the emitter out of their reach settles the question by geometry.

The ceiling as the answer

It is out of reach, it covers the whole area of the space, and it radiates downwards, towards where the children actually are. Comfort is distributed according to how the room is really occupied rather than where the free walls happen to be.

The regulatory constraint

A building open to the public requires a facing classified at least A2 in front of the insulation. The system adapts to that, provided the point is dealt with at design stage and not discovered at the end of the job by the inspection body.

Noise, which always comes with it

These spaces are noisy by nature. Treating the acoustics at the same time as the heating, in the same plenum, costs far less than two separate operations, and the ceiling is the only plane available for both.

Acoustic treatment is presented on the R'Acoustic 20 page, and fire regulations on the page about buildings open to the public.