Electric radiant floor heat from scratch?

[DiezMon]

Hello all,

I've been reading up on electric in-floor radiant heat. I see there are several manufacturers and distributors out there, and various types.

My question is.. why couldn't one just get a supply of nicrome wire and construct their own system? I know you'd have to deal with temp/voltage control and those basic things, but it seems to me it'd be cheaper to go this route.

The only unknown that does come to mind(since I'm no EE) is what kind of electrical field would be generated. I've seen some systems that claim they emit no electrical field of any kind.

Thanks for any input!

Tim

[RicodJour]

temp/voltage

What sort of electrical field does your house wiring generate? Does that affect you in any way?

As far as whether you could build it a system yourself, sure. Would you want to? Probably not. You can buy all the parts separately, but the controls will be designed for a particular cable/system. The stuff isn't that expensive.

R

[webmaster]

You can do whatever you want... When it goes POP and burns your home down, be sure to let the insurance company know that you were trying to re-invent the wheel.

Its not as simple as running a wire of unknown diameter, an unknown TEL, and getting heat..altho..you might get more than you barganed for...or none..its an awful expensive test you are wanting to run there..