Beautiful Heat, a company that designs radiant home heating, held a media event on Thursday, May 2, 2013 at Toronto’s Evergreen Brick Works to showcase its environmentally-friendly heating products. Radiant heating is created by the flow of water through tubes installed in floors thus avoiding the need for furnaces or ventilation systems that circulate dust and other airborne allergens throughout your home. Water retains heat at 3500 times more per litre volume than air and thus is a more economical and efficient heat source. Plus, radiant heating provides a uniform heat source.
The Evergreen Brick Works facility installed radiant heating several years ago during the refurbishment of the building so guests at the Beautiful Heat event were able to witness for themselves the level of heat that was being generated from the concrete floor. Since the weather outside was a balmy 21°C, the event organizers arranged to turn up the heat so that we could tell the difference and indeed, I slipped off my sandals and felt for myself that the floors were comfortably warm.
Chef Brad Long of HGTV’s Restaurant Makeover and owner of Café Belong at Evergreen Brick Works catered the event, providing organic and locally-sourced fare. Guests enjoyed tantalizing dishes including Wine-Braised Brisket on Buttermilk Biscuits, Mushroom Risotto and an antipasto plate with razor-thin slices of roast beef and prosciutto, artisanal cheeses and almost-candy Carmelized Walnuts. Appetizers included deletable Chicken and Black Bean Tostados, Perogis and Trout on Blini.
Interior Designer Karen Sealy of Citytv’s Cityline and HGTV provided tips on green design and furnishing to complement radiant home heating installations.
Guests were treated to reflexology treatments and armchair massages from practitioners from Massage On Wheels, a company that provides massage treatments for corporate and other events. My practitioner, Deborah McKeown, gave me a wonderful reflexology treatment lasting about 20 minutes and pointed out to me the points on my feet that corresponded to different parts of my body. I was so relaxed afterwards that I felt like walking barefoot on those radiant-heated floors.
