When John Kopf eventually gets around to designing and building his own house, he will go with hydronic heat instead of a more traditional forced air system. Kopf knows a thing or two about heating, having spent more than 20 years in the industry. He currently serves as boiler product manager for Navien.

“The main reason is comfort,” he says. “From a hydronic system, you get even heat distribution. Think of it, most of us — including myself — have forced air heat. We have grills, diffusers and vents in the floor blowing hot air, and usually, those are placed below the windows in cold spots. Around that vent, it’s warm, but as soon as you start moving away, it becomes colder and colder. When you have radiant floor heating, there is a very nice and even distribution.”