4 benefits of radiant heating and cooling systems for your home

As we become more health conscious, our homes are adapting to suit, with products and materials chosen not only for their aesthetic appeal and functionality, but their contribution to our overall health and wellbeing.

Our environment plays a key part in maintaining good health, as factors like air quality, temperature, humidity, and noise can have a lasting impact on our health if not managed effectively.

For this reason, it’s important to consider how these environmental conditions are going to be managed in your home — whether you’re building new, or renovating. Like a jack of all trades, the Messana Climate Control system not only heats and cools your home, it also reduces the circulation of allergens in the air, and the appearance of mould and mildew.

We caught up with Waterware Technical Director, Darren Yearsley to learn more about the four key health benefits of installing a Messana Climate Control system in your home.

Improved comfort

The Messana Climate Control system uses radiant heating and cooling to control the temperature of your home. By evenly distributing hot water through a series of tubes in the floor or ceiling, heat is transferred to surfaces in your home, comfortably heating your body and interior surfaces.

“Rather than experiencing heating or cooling from a point like you do with an air-based system, the Messana system heats every part of your home at once — like the building itself is giving you a hug, delivering comfort,” Yearsley explains.

The same process is used for cooling, except as cold water runs through the tubes, it draws the heat from your home and heats the water in the tubes, which is then replaced by more cold water to maintain a comfortable temperature in the summer months.

With an even distribution of heat and cooling throughout the home, cold and hot spots are eliminated, improving overall comfort.

Reduced humidity

Mould and mildew are common problems in New Zealand homes, and can lead to long-term health complications. The Messana Climate Control system circulates heat and cooling throughout your entire home, and transfers heat to surfaces within the home, so that the air temperature remains above dew point, and at a healthy level of humidity.

The system also monitors both the humidity and air quality within your home, and can use that information to drive an Air Treatment Unit.

“The Air Treatment Unit is an HRV system with a built-in fan coil, allowing any ventilated air drawn in to assist the radiant heating and cooling loads to be heated or cooled, making sure the air entering the building is at the right temperature to maintain comfort.

“The Air Treatment Unit can also act as a dehumidifier, drying the air as it enters the building to ensure a comfortable level of humidity is maintained,” Yearsley says.

Improved air quality

Unlike fan-based systems, a radiant heating and cooling system does not rely on air ducts to distribute hot or cold air throughout your home. This means there is less opportunity for dust, allergens, and other contaminants to be circulated. And, while the Messana system does offer a fan-based add-on to assist the radiant heating and cooling process where necessary, the built-in Air Treatment Unit, discussed earlier, takes care of the air quality so you can breathe easy.

Peace and quiet

“The radiant system is not only silent, but also completely hidden,” Yearsley says, adding that the fan coils — used to assist the radiant heating and cooling process — automatically speed modulate to run at the lowest possible speed, minimising noise.

Low level background noise can contribute to increased stress levels if running over a long period of time, particularly for people who are sensitive to noise. In the height of summer, and depths of winter, operating a fan-based system to maintain a comfortable temperature all day long can mean a steady background noise of 60 decibels — equivalent to moderate rainfall or normal conversation. While noise at 60 decibels won’t cause damage to your ears, continuous noise above 55 decibels can increase cortisol levels, interfere with sleep, and impact your ability to concentrate.

Every installation of a Messana Climate Control system will be assigned a project specialist by Waterware. Learn more about Waterware and the Messana Climate Control system.