The cooler months are coming and it’s time to think about stepping out of bed onto your cold floor or finishing your nice hot shower and stepping into the cold bathroom. Before the weather turns, you might want to think about adding a heated floor to your place. You can either heat specific rooms or have heated floors everywhere. Here are some considerations.
Forced Air Heating/Radiant Floor Heating
There are a few types of heating that you can choose from. Forced air heating has the heat coming from the furnace and traveling through tubes/pipes to carry the heat to the desired room. A problem with this type heating is that as the heat travels, there are places along the way that the heat can escape, either through connectors along the tubes or if the air runs through colder roomer before it gets to its intended target. Additionally, the air is usually released through vents in the ceiling and if hot air rises, then the entire room might not get as warm as you like.
Radiant floor heating involves having heating panels in the floor, which would then release the heat through the floor and let the heat rise in the room. With heating panels in the floor, there is less of a chance of heat loss because the heat does not need to travel from one room to another. Also, the room will heat at a more gradual pace because it is being released through the floor instead of blown into the room from above.
Initial Cost/Cost Over Time
One issue with floor heating is that there is a higher initial cost to have it installed. When considering your budget, keep in mind that while there is a higher beginning cost, it can be a more cost-effective solution over time. You will need to review your budget to determine what is your best option for the initial cost. A choice could be to do a room or two first instead of the whole house to begin with.
Resale Value
Making these improvements to your home can increase the resale value of your home. Learning that your home has heated flooring, a buyer might be more interested in looking at your home. So, improvements that you make to your home can offer benefits to you after you make them, and then down the road when you consider selling your home.
