When constructing a single-family house today, nearly every second builder decides in favour of embedded heating systems. Embedded heating or cooling systems are installed permanently in the floor, walls or ceiling already during the construction phase of the building. Thus, they form an integral component of the building. As embedded systems can fulfil two functions simultaneously, they represent an investment in the future for owners: Thanks to continuous round-the-year use, they can heat rooms in winter and reduce the temperature of room air by an appreciable 4 to 6 degrees in summer. Their large-area span enables a uniform distribution of heat in the room and they contribute to a pleasant room atmosphere.

Conventional floor-heating systems cannot be used in old buildings because the required construction height is not available or load problems of the ceiling can arise. Hence, special embedded heating systems for a subsequent integration were developed that allow the use of embedded heating/cooling systems in existing buildings without extensive interventions in the building. Finally, the versatile systems available in the market such as screed or plaster, dry or even special thin-layer systems offer optimum solutions to the builder for use in new constructions as well as for modernization.

In embedded heating systems, only low system temperatures are generally required (35/28 °C), so that they are an ideal supplement for the use of condensing boilers, heat pumps and solar heating systems. The residents profit doubly by virtue of their comparatively low system temperatures: through the large energy savings potential and through an enormous increase in cosiness and comfort. This can be supported additionally by using intelligent single-room controls.
The invisible embedded heating units installed in walls, floors and ceilings also offer the advantage, that they leave ample space for the residents for interior decoration.

In summer, embedded heating can also be used for simple room cooling with the help of an extra cooling equipment. Only cold water circulates through the pipes, which lowers the temperature of the floor, ceiling or walls and hence, the rooms by up to 6 °C – and all this without any draught.
The performance of a panel cooling unit cannot be compared to that of an air conditioner and depends on the temperature spread. While the temperature difference during the heating process is about 8 K normally, embedded cooling should not be operated with a spread of more than 3 K. Due to the low temperature difference between cooling water and ambient air, panel cooling units are pre-destined to offer an effective contribution to room cooling. Through cooling water temperatures of e.g., 18 °C, even natural heat sinks such as ground water or soil can be used to allow an energy-saving cooling operation.

To control the system temperature in the cooling mode, one must install a regulator which covers the heating and cooling functions together. This regulator is used to maintain the system temperature above the dew point in embedded cooling systems, so that there is no condensation build-up on distribution pipes and transition areas. To avoid condensation build-up on pipes, exposed cooling water pipes must also be insulated. If the air is cooled further after reaching the dew point, it would not be able to absorb more moisture, so that it precipitates on surfaces as water.
The different typical variants of embedded cooling in living areas of an apartment or office building achieve an average cooling output of approx. 35 W/m2 on the floor, approx. 35–50 W/m2 on the wall (depending on design) and approx. 50–110 W/m2 on the ceiling (depending on design and without the convection amount).