Friday, February 21, 2003

By PAT STANLEY, Register Correspondent

With war drums beating in oil-rich Iraq and the cost of gasoline already above $2 a gallon at some Bay Area pumps, a Napa company is convinced its alternative home-heating method could drastically cut America's dependence on "black gold."

"We've calculated that if all new construction was done with radiant heating, we wouldn't need to import any oil at all," said Michael Luttrell, owner, president and founder of Warm Floors.

The company features heat radiated from polyethylene pipes installed beneath the floor. The concept of warming homes and businesses by warming your tootsies is catching on. Sales for Warm Floors increased by an impressive 14 percent last year, when many American businesses were swimming in red ink.

Warm Floors has "made my day" for clients including, yes, actor Clint Eastwood. Other high-profile customers include M.C. Hammer, Sonoma State University student housing, Peju Province Winery and Stag's leap Wine Cellars.

Luttrell is about to expand Warm Floors by opening a second office and plant in Washington, D.C. It'll be open for business in about two months, he said last week shortly before flying back east to complete details of the expansion.

The Napa firm employs about 30 workers and does about $3 million worth of installations a year. "It's finally catching on," Luttrell said.

He founded the company in 1977, primarily as a solar energy firm. Luttrell left a job rebuilding nuclear reactors to start the business.

"For many years we did primarily solar, wind and alternative systems," he said. In 1985, the company changed its focus to radiant heating for homes and businesses.

"It can cost a quarter to half as much as forced air," said the company's General Manager Peter Moritz. "It's an incredibly efficient means (to heat)."

The process is relatively simple. Warm water (not hot)" usually supplied by the same heater that heats the drinking and bath water -- is pumped slowly through flexible pipes beneath the floors. That heats objects in the room, as opposed to heating the air itself.

"Visualize a nice warm summer afternoon on a sidewalk," he said. That's the way it feels.

The same water re-circulates, so water bills are not adversely affected.

Clients can control which "zone" to activate, choosing not to heat rooms not in use at the time, thus saving cost. A typical home has five to 10 zones. "We zone according to your lifestyle," said company sales manager John Chiarella. "We're very passionate in what we do," he added.

Chiarella said the system's benefits go beyond the obvious one of saving money. Radiated heat is healthy in that it does not circulate pollens and allergens in moving air, it is invisible, and it's totally silent.

Warm Floors usually installs systems in buildings when they are under construction, but they also install systems in completed structures. Chiarella said about a quarter of the company's projects are retrofits -- "usually major remodels."

It's not just homes that are heated through the floors. They've built systems for wineries, schools, pet adoption centers, childcare centers, office buildings, churches, monasteries, greenhouses -- even the San Francisco Zoo elephant exhibit.

"Child care centers are favorites, because kids are always on the floor," Chiarella noted.

They recently installed a system in a recycling plant in Stockton.

Moritz said Warm Floors completes about 140 to 150 projects every year, and the demand for their product is rapidly increasing.

The firm has been featured on the TV show "This Old House." The Public Broadcasting's show

centered on the remodeling of a San Francisco neighborhood church into a residence.