Bathrooms And Radiant Heat Go Together

Especially in the winter, it is nice to wake up to warm bathroom floors. Most bathrooms have floors made of cold tile and by installing radiant floor heat, you can turn that cold tile into something that is not such a shock to wake up to.

People commonly choose to install radiant heat in their bathrooms and kitchens and this is because those floors are usually not carpeted and having warm floors is nice in those rooms. In years past many homes were built with radiant heat throughout the house and it was the common heating system. You might remember your Grandmas house that had metal radiators somewhere in every room and they didn’t have any forced air systems that today’s houses are built with.

That type of radiant heating has been abandoned in modern homes but it doesn’t mean you cant have radiant floor heat installed in your bathrooms and kitchens. By adding floor heat to those two rooms, you will give them a special touch of luxury that you will enjoy for years and it will also make your home easier to sell.

Radiant heat can be installed in your home in two forms. The first is electric radiant heat and that is the easiest and cheapest to install. Electric radiant heat makes heat by heating metal coils under the floor just like the coils in a toaster. This type of heat is the best choice for homes that are already built. The other kind of radiant heat, is hydronic and with that hot water is pushed through pipes under the house which heats the floors. Putting in pipes that will safely carry hot water throughout the house is much more expensive and usually only done in houses that are being built.

Radiant heat is a great kind of heat because it is silent but it is more expensive that the forced air heat that is in so many of our houses today. If you are looking into heated floor cost, you should realize that radiant heat is best if it is installed while a house is being built. That doesn’t mean you can’t have it installed later but it is cheaper and easier to have it put in up front. If you are having radiant heat installed in an existing home, electric heat is probably the way to go. Having electric radiant heat pads put in under the floors is not that difficult and can be cost effective.