The Pros and Cons of Heated Flooring
As winter rapidly approaches for many of us, heated flooring may increasingly be a consideration for your home. Heated flooring, or radiant flooring, is a flooring system that utilizes electrical wiring or heated pipes installed beneath the surface of the floor to warm the flooring material. Dating back to the Roman Empire, heated flooring systems have been around for many years and offer a cozy element to your home.
If you’re considering heated flooring for your home, here are some pros and cons associated with heated flooring systems to help you decide what’s best for your home! Before comparing pros and cons, remember there are two different kinds of heated flooring — hydronic and electric.
Hydronic vs. Electric Heating Floors
Hydronic heated flooring consists of an array of piping underneath the surface of the floor. Heated water is circulated through these pipes via a boiler, allowing the heat to transfer into the floors. Hydronic systems heat large areas or even whole houses, but they are rather costly to install and must be professionally installed.
Electric heated flooring involves a layer of electrical wires installed beneath the flooring, using electrical resistance to heat the floors. These wires are woven into a sheet that can be rolled out easily. While electric systems are significantly less costly than their hydronic counterparts and are installed as a DIY project, they are typically only effective in smaller rooms, such as bathrooms. Multiple electric systems must be installed in order to cover large portions of houses.
The Pros of Heated Flooring
Comfort. Heated flooring is an incredible way to add an extra dimension of pure coziness to your home. This eliminates that cold-tile feeling and keeps your toes happy all day long.
Uniform Heating. Heated flooring helps eliminate temperature discrepancies from floor to ceiling. Since heat rises, it is difficult to keep a room feeling uniformly warm, especially in homes or rooms with ceilings higher than the conventional eight feet. Heated flooring helps keep the lower portion of a room nice and toasty.
Low maintenance. Once installed, radiant flooring requires zero upkeep and seldom needs repairs. It’s also silent, as it runs entirely independent of fans or air movement machinery.
Energy efficient. Radiant heating, on average, is 20-25% more efficient than other heating systems.
Easy to install. As mentioned above, electric heated flooring is installed quickly and without the know-how of a professional team.
The Cons of Heated Flooring
Cannot stand alone. Heated flooring, while adding to the overall efficiency of your home’s heating, cannot stand on its own. Most homes cannot be heated solely by heated flooring. You still need to utilize conventional heating methods.
Replacement cost. Since radiant flooring systems are installed beneath your floors, you have to remove and replace any current flooring, incurring some up front cost.
Raised floor. Heated flooring has to be installed on top of a subfloor, so the height of your floor changes slightly. For many homes this may be inconsequential, but if certain fixtures in your home require the floor to remain at a certain level, this may be an obstacle.
Up-front cost. The up-front cost for heated flooring is significant, depending on how large a system you are planning to install.
Heated flooring has the potential to be a wonderful addition to your home and drastically improves the overall efficiency of your energy usage. However, there are several considerations to keep in mind before installing. If you have questions on whether heated flooring is best for your home, contact our team at Oriole Home & Design. We help you make the best decisions for your home.