The purpose of radiant heat is simple, heat a home or space in a different manner that doesn't require a forced air approach like a furnace or similar. The concept works great because of the fact that heat rises.  Forced air systems require the air to be heated up and then blown around the house to create warmth.  This is both inefficient and relatively ineffective.  The first time a person walks on a radiant heated floor they realize how great these systems really are.  The warmth just comes pouring into your body as you walk on the floor.  No more worrying about a freezing floor as you walk throughout your house.  They are especially great on ceramic tile flooring and in basements.  Once you have walked on a radiant heat floor heating system you will be sold as to how great it really is.

A common question people often have is whether or not radiant heat will heat the entire room.  Obviously the floor will be nice and warm as the heat is applied to the system there.  The beauty is that given the fact that heat rises it will permeate throughout the room and heat everything.  And really the area that you care the most about is the area that people live in, technically the bottom 6 feet or so in every room.  Forced air is notorious for doing a great job heating the top 4 feet of any room.  Not so with radiant heating, where the floor is where the heat begins and it wafts upwards from there.

To the right is a great overview video on how radiant heat works in a home or area.  Notice how the heat is applied to the flooring.  From there it drifts upward due to the fact that heat rises.  A radiant heating system is both a safe and efficient manner to heat your home. 

The video to the right shows how a water based radiant heating system works.  They work in the exact same manner as a electric based system, only the water is heated up and carries the heat thoughout the area and is then pumped back eventually to be heated up again.  Water is a very efficient method to use for radiant heat.  On top of that radiant heat is green friendly due to its efficiency, an ever important thing to consider given the state of the world these days.

Here is an example of a RPM heating system that once applied makes the rest of the installation easy and trouble free.  Once the mats are placed down correctly and the adhesive has set the installation of the wire is both easy and high quality.  Allowed to sit below the ridges in the subflooring you don't have to worry about tripping or ruining the installation once it is fully in place.  Rubber grommets hold the coils down to ensure many years of trouble free usage.

As shown in this video to the right, using an electric underfloor radiant heat system is both efficient and comfortable.  The process to install the electric coils is a bit involved, but once complete it is set for decades of use.  The beauty of electric radiant heat as opposed to a water based system is the lack of plumbing work required and not needing to worry about a small leak creating a big watery mess.