I WISH MY HOME HAD A RADIANT FLOOR HEATING SYSTEM

Right now it is the beginning of a very cold winter and already my skin is dry and scaling. My nose is rough on the top and feels like it is peeling. The backs of my hands are alright when I wake up but throughout the day, they become dryer and dryer.

I sit here typing this wishing we had designed and built our house ourself so that we could have installed a radiant floor heating system right from the beginning. We have had freezing temperatures outside now for about a week and the dry forced air heat that comes out of the vents are killing me. It's like I can see my skin growing older right before my eyes.

The forced air heating systems that are in most newer homes are awful during the winter. They are loud as they continuously pump the dry air into every room sucking out every bit of moisture. I have tried using a humidifier but it is useless as the unit is too small to make any kind of a difference.

When it gets this cold, and it will be this way for the next 3 months or so, the heating has to work overtime in any house. Dry hot heat may work to keep you warm but it is not pleasurable at all. With radiant floor heating throughout the house, like in the winter would be so much more pleasurable.

Radiant heat floors are something you can have installed throughout a house but it only really makes sense to do that as the house is being built. Whether you choose hydronic or electric radiant heat, it is something that is so much easier to put in while the house is being built.

The cost of radiant floor heat is such that it is too expensive and too much trouble to put it in every room of the house if your house has already been built. That is why most people, if they do choose to rip up their floors, will only do it for a room or two which is usually the master bathroom and perhaps the kitchen. I would also really like to have it in the basement where it is freezing and I think it would help a lot. The best electric fireplace inserts that we looked at as an alternative just won't do the job I don't think.

If we ever move homes, radiant heat is something that I have to remember to look into before we buy or build. My Grandma's house had Victorian radiators and I long for that type of silent, steady heat that is just there and you never know it. What I would give to have some sort of a radiant floor heating system in our house right now. With this bad economy, it is difficult to think that we will ever get our money back if we install it after the fact in our home now.

BASEMENT IN FLOOR HEATING OPTIONS

If you have a cold basement that just won't heat up like the rest of the house, you have a bit of a problem. In order to get it warm enough to enjoy, you will probably have to crank up the heat in the whole house which is both expensive and unpractical.

Basement in floor heating might be the option you are looking for because it will have it's own separate system that will effectively heat the room. Radiant heat is great for any room that in naturally cold or has especially cold floors. It is also a great addition to any room that you want to have additional heat or a heating system that is not connected to the central heating.

Typically, people choose to install in floor heat in rooms like the master bathroom, the kitchen, a child's room, and basements. The only thing people really don't like about radiant heat is the cost of installation.

If you want basement in floor heat, your easiest choice is electric radiant heat. For houses and rooms that are already built, electric heat will always be easier to install and cheaper than hydronic heat. The pipe system of hydronic heat makes it't initial cost prohibitive for some and it is a big job to get all the pipes in.

Electric basement in floor heat is a great choice if you want your basement to have it's own heat and you want to use the room for a game room or any other type of family use. When you feel the difference in the air and the gentle warmth of radiant heat in the winter, you will be glad you made the change.

In floor heating can, by itself turn an almost unusable cold basement room into a place the whole family can enjoy no matter what the temperature is outside. The in floor heating cost will be something you can rack up to an investment in your home and it will undoubtedly make your house easier to sell when that time comes. So many people have cold and dark unfinished basements that just go to waste. A little light and heat can make them a favorite gathering room in the house.

INSTALLING RADIANT FLOOR HEATING

One of the biggest questions everyone has about installing radiant floor heating is the cost. Just how much will it cost to put in either hydronic or electric radiant heat under the floors of your house? Of course it would have been best to have it put in as the house was being built but not too many homes are built that way now.

It is going to be expensive to put in heated floors throughout the whole house and that is why few people do it. No matter what kind of radiant heat floors you put in the price will be high. That is why most people decide to install it in the master bathroom. Some people also have radient heat put in under their kitchen floors too.

The cheapest radiant heat supplies are going to involve electric pads that you install under the floors. These pads heat up like the coals of a toaster and produce heat which is felt under your feet. The feeling of warm floors, especially in the cold mornings, is why people love these heated floors.

The problem is that very few people are able to install something like in floor heat themselves. Not only does it involve ripping up the floors but it also involves electric wiring and putting it all together so that it doesn't catch fire. This is not something the normal handy man can do.

Likewise, hydronic radiant heat is even tougher and more expensive to install as it involved putting piping under the floors and running hot water through the pipes. This is definitely something that is way beyond the scope of most do it yourselfers.

Radiant floor heat needs to be installed by a heating professional and you can get quotes for this by having someone come out to your house to take a look. One of the best places online you can find reliable contractors is at Angie's List. There you can find a rating on all the home service companies in your area as rated by other users. If you want unbiased reviews of your local contractors, give them a try. You should be able to find the best company in your city to install those radiant heated floors.

RADIANT HEAT FLOOR QUESTIONS

Now that winter is upon us, there are a lot of people interested in radiant floor heat and radiant heat flooring. However, most people have no idea how much it can cost or how to install it. Here are some of the questions being asked by people on the Internet about radiant heat floors:

1) How much does it cost to install electric heat
2) Best type of bathroom heated floor
3) Best radiant heater surface
4) In floor hydronic cost
5) How much heat does radiant heating give
6) Radient floor cost
7) How to install oxy pex
8) How much room do you need for a radiant floor
9) How long does it take to heat electirc floors
10) Installing radiant heat pad
11) Installing radiant floor heat in older homes
12) Heated bathroom floor cost
13) Can you install radiant heat flooring under carpet
14) How to install hydronic radiant floor heat
15) Radiant heating tips
16) Rooms good for radient heating
17) Radiant heat bathroom over vinyl
18) Installation radient flooring
19) How much does heated concrete cost?
20) Ceiling radiant heater for bathrooms
21) House value heated floors
22) Whole house radiant heat
23) How much does hydronic radiant floor heating cost
24) Electrical radiant floor heating supplies
25) How you install your boiler to heat the floor

Those are just some of the types of questions people are asking about radiant heat floors and how you get them. While some of those questions cannot really be answered in a sentence or two, many of them can and next time I will give the answers to as many of those questions a possible.

HOW CAN I GET HEATED FLOORS?

When you walk in a room with heated floors you really notice the difference. What kind of floors are heated like that? The only way to make that happen is by installing radiant heated floors. There are two kinds of methods you can use to get heated floors and they are electric radient heat and hydronic radiant heat. If you want to read more about each one here are some links:

Electric radiant heated floors

Hydronic radiant heated floors

Radiant heat floors are not cheap to install and it is always better if you put it in as the house is being built. You can install it later if you choose and in that case the electric heat is much easier and cheaper to put in than hydronic radiant heat. If you are interested in finding out the costs please go here: cost of radiant heat floors