In modern houses and apartments, more and more attention is paid to creating a comfortable microclimate. One solution that is becoming increasingly popular is the underfloor heating system. Underfloor heating integrated into your heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system is a solution that not only ensures even heat distribution throughout the room but also improves overall energy efficiency. In this article, we will look at the advantages and disadvantages of installing heated floors.
Pros And Cons of Heated Floors
Warm floors are an excellent solution for maintaining a comfortable climate during the cold season. Heated floors, depending on the type, resemble a structure made of small diameter pipes (water-heated floor), a heating cable laid in a screed or tile adhesive (electric heated floor), or infrared film mounted under a laminate (infrared heated floor). Despite the differences in the heating element and coolant, it is possible to identify advantages and disadvantages common to all types of heated floors.
Strengths of Heated Floors
There are many advantages of heated floors:
- Significant savings on utility bills. Don’t be surprised, but heated floors can actually significantly reduce your payment costs. The whole point is that the heat is distributed evenly over the entire surface, and does not accumulate at one point, as is the case with classic radiators. Accordingly, the heating effect will be higher - you will not have to turn the boiler on full blast to heat the room. But this is true in cases where your apartment has its own boiler.
- Long service life. The minimum stated service life is 30 years, and some types can work properly for over 50 years.
- Aesthetics. The heated floor system is hidden inside the floor covering, which has a positive effect on the aesthetics of the interior.
- Additional protection against drafts. In apartments, this problem is not so popular, but in private houses, drafts are relevant. Warm floors help minimize the negative impact of drafts.
- The ability to quickly warm a house or apartment.
Also, heated floors can be an excellent addition to apartments and houses with small children because they can play on the floor without the risk of catching a cold, and it is not even necessary to use carpeting.
Cons of Heated Floors
Surely the strengths of heated floors impressed you. But don’t rush to draw conclusions, because not everything is so simple here. This heating system also has many disadvantages, many of which can be decisive.
The disadvantages of heated floors include:
- High cost. Regardless of the chosen configuration, you will have to spend a lot of money installing heated floors. It is also important to understand that it is better to install this system throughout the entire house or apartment.
Thus, the cost of installing an HVAC system is $7,200 - $16,500, and the cost of replacing an HVAC system is $4,800 - $11,300, while if we consider component replacement and installation, then the cost of replacing a radiant floor heating system, for example, is about $1,550 - $6,400.
- Difficulties with installation in the presence of ready-made repairs. When building a house, installing a heated floor is as easy as shelling pears. If the repair is already completed, then there are more problems. You will have to completely remove the flooring in all rooms where you plan to place heated floors.
- Difficulty in repair. Of course, the design of a heated floor is extremely reliable and is unlikely to simply fail. But if this does happen, the floor covering will have to be removed again for repairs.
What Type of Underfloor Heating Is Better to Choose?
In construction practice, there are two main classifications of heated floors: water and electric. Let's look at the features of each system.
Water Heated Floors
The coolant here is ordinary water. The principle of operation is similar to classic radiators - water circulates through the pipes, thereby heating the floor covering. The liquid circulates constantly: from the boiler to the pipes, and back. In this cycle, it simply does not have time to cool down, so the system always maintains the set temperature.
Electric Heated Floors
The electric floor heating system can be divided into several categories:
- Cable system. This system works on a single-core or two-core cable mounted in a screed. The simplest and relatively cheap category of electric floors.
- A system with heating mats. It assumes the presence of ready-made grids on which heating wires are already located. In this case, it is not at all necessary to calculate the pitch of the wires and their laying. The prepared mesh is immediately laid on the surface and connected to the system.
- Floors with infrared film. A more complex system, the structure of which contains a thin film with conductive carbon strips. The heating technology in this case is completely different: the warm floor does not act on the floor surface but on furniture, decorative elements, and walls. And from them, in turn, heat spreads throughout the room.
Where Is It Appropriate to Install Heated Floors?
In the children's room, hallway, corridor, bathroom, and kitchen, warm floors are definitely needed. That is, these are the places where residents spend a lot of free time. It is especially effective to combine heated floors with ceramic tiles, in which case they will be warm and pleasant to the touch.
And in the bathroom, heated floors are absolutely necessary by default. This is not only convenient but also environmentally friendly, because they allow you to get rid of excess moisture.
Final Thoughts
Warm floors are a modern and practical option for creating a heating system. Choosing such a decision is unlikely to cause you regret in the future. It is best to entrust the work of installing a heated floor to professionals, since the design is quite complex, and remodeling can require a lot of time and money. MyHomeQuote is a proven service for finding reliable contractors near you and preliminary estimates of the cost of certain works. Thus, prices for replacing a radiant floor heating system in an HVAC system vary from $1,550 to $6,400, and the cost of replacing an HVAC system varies from $4,800 to $11,300, depending on the area of the room, materials, and other factors.
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