Having zone controlled heat is one of the most energy efficient and affective ways to save money on your heating bill without sacrificing comfort in your home.
Many forced air systems claim to have zone control capabilities but in reality the furnace has to work even harder to heat other rooms when the registers or vents are closed in some rooms. When the registers are closed the air still travels down the ducts until it hits the closed register and then bounces back (cooling in the process) as it joins the air in the main duct. This cooler air is then blown into rooms further down the line. This forces the furnace to work extra hard to heat the spaces receiving the cooler air.
With radiant heat panels you can choose to evenly heat your whole house room by room or choose to purposely set some rooms at a cooler/warmer temperatures than others. Unlike a furnace which kicks on when a room drops below the set temperature of your thermostat, heat panels only turn on in the specific room they are needed. You can even set the panels to different temperatures within the same room. For example, if you have a room with a sitting area and an exercise area you can have the panels over the couches set to 68 and the panels over your exercise equipment set to 63 so that if both areas of the room are being occupied then all can be comfortable in it. Likewise, if you have a room with a lot of solar gain on one side and cooler on the other, you can have the panels on two thermostats so that the entire space is comfortable.
go from this…
to this! With Radiant Heat!