apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

My dad actually installed radiant floor heating in his house as it was being built in 1990 for the basement and first floor. He also installed it in the driveway to act as a snow melting system, but in its nearly 20 year existence has never finished this feature by installing a pump to move the water or alternative liquid through the driveway system.
*His house in Omaha, NE.

we installed electric radient in our kitchen and it is the best feeling, warm slate tiles under your feet in the middle of winter. it was really simple to install.

I have this image of a too-hot for bare feet surface. How warm is it really?

I experienced heated slate floors in a house in Calgary in the dead of winter I must say that was the best feeling underfoot. Its like driving a convertible with the top down on a cold evening with heated seats.

There are also portable electric heating mats that can be placed under your area rugs.

http://cozywinters.com/shop/rug-heat.html

http://www.radiantheatpro.com/site/1511051/page/729899

pretty cool--haven't seen the under-rug heaters.


I have suntouch mats in my bathrooms. My living area is tile and I have one under the living room floor and one under the floor in the center of my kitchen work triangle.

Basically, I decided which areas I would want extra heat and put them there (instead of doing the whole house which would have been $$$$$$).

bepsf thanks for posting these I did not know about under the rug heaters. My bathroom in the colder months could use this.

Art what are suntouch mats?

My dream house will have radiant concrete floors, which I imagine take a LOT of precision compared to tile floors.

I thought this was Apartment Therapy. Who could do that in an apartment?!

sun touch is a brand of under floor heating mats.

I'm in construction and i wouldn't takle it if its going in concrete. However if it was the type that installs under the wood sub-floor from below the floor I would.

To AZkathy: We have radiant heating throughout. The water has ca 90°F. Very energy efficient and wonderful underfoot.

But radiant has one big disadvantage: it is extremely slow. So just turning the heat on for some hours on a cold evening doesn't work.

AZkathy - you can walk around barefoot all you'd like. My brother did this in his farmhouse and it's amazing. And he did all the work himself - yes, it is very tedious.

But the results are quite unlike standard heaters - where the air gets warm in one area, and takes some time to move around the house. His whole house just feels warm.

How much does it cost to run the portable mats?

Really? The modern systems we use here in South Korea heat up pretty quickly ~ usually my floor is noticeably warm in about five-ten minutes, and the room in thirty or so. But one of the real benefits is that they continue to give off heat even after you've turned them off for a bit, so you don't have to leave the heat on as long as you would with one that blows hot air. Unless it's incredibly cold, I usually just run my system for a few hours in the evening or at night.

All those tubes are old technology. Do a search for much simpler modular systems for the DIYer. Here's one. http://www.thermosoft.com/thermotile2?gclid=CI7Yo-br5pwCFQ7GsgodrQPeHA

I had it professionally done in a room 22 x 22 with hot water type and it was 6 grand extra over new heating install, that is not too much!

chartreuse - "apartment therapy" I believe refers more to small spaces, rather than renting vs owning. As a home (read: condo) owner in downtown Chicago, I think installing radiant heat flooring would be a fantastic investment. Especially since I am ripping up my ugly tile anyway!