Hydronics have been around a long time, but with new technologies making them more cost efficient and environmentally-friendly, hydronics are becoming more popular with the home improvement crowd. However, hydronics is awfully close to hydroponics, at least in terms of appearance. In fact, search engines and autocorrect technologies will often confuse the two words, despite their being vastly different. So what is the difference between hydronics and hydroponics and does it even matter?
Hydronics
- The use of radiant heat to heat homes and other buildings
- Heating occurs by transferring water through a pipe system that warms the surrounding environment
- Hydronic heating systems allow you to set different temperatures for each room
- Can include outdoor heating systems such as heating pools, roofs, or driveways
- Hydronics includes different energy source options like gas boilers, solar collectors, and gas water heaters
Hydroponics
- A method of growing plants in sand, gravel or liquid, but without the use of soil
- Hydroponic systems use plant nutrients dissolved in water in inorganic or ionic form
- Hydronics use substantially less water than a regular farm to produce the same amount of food
- Water is delivered to the plant root system via hanging directly in the solution, being misted by the solution, or in a container accompanied by a soil replacement like sand or gravel