Radiant Heating Installation Costs. On This Page: Cost Factors. How Does Radiant Heating Work? Types of Radiant Heating - Electric & Hydronic. Pros and Cons of Radiant Floor Heating. Best Rooms for Radiant Heat. Other Considerations. Conclusion. Tile or stone floors are great to look at, but they can be really cold to the touch - especially in winter months. Get matched to local Heating & Furnace Systems contractors for your home improvement projects. HomeAdvisor's network of Heating & Furnace Systems contractors are. If you are looking for High Quality Mini Split Heat Pump Air Conditioner's, Please visit us today! View several cost examples of hydronic radiant heating system installations and request a quote on your own in floor radian heat project. How to Install Ductwork for Central Heating and Air. The design of ductwork is as important to a home heating and air conditioning system as the unit that powers it. 240 volt electric baseboard heater Unless you are able to add to an existing hot water baseboard or in floor heating system, you’ll need to read the following. Find out your basement heating options for a finished basement. How to Install Heating Vents. Heating vents are a common sight in any house with a forced air heating and cooling system. A typical room will have one or two heating. Install Heating System Basement FlooringOne way of taking care of that problem, and also heating your home, is to install radiant floor heating. Radiant floor heating comes from tubes running underneath your floor’s surface. These are heated either electronically or via heated water. It heats evenly and doesn’t blow air which can kick up dust and other allergens. Also, as warm air rises, your lower body receives the comforting heat while your lungs breathe in more comfortable, slightly cooler air up higher. This kind of heating is particularly useful in rooms with vaulted ceilings. Many homeowners may not know how extensive a project this can be and have a hard time predicting what the cost to install a radiant heating system will be. Your first step should be to talk to a reputable professional who can explain the best course of action for your particular home and who can estimate what your particular project will cost. Be warned, though, that this is a very involved project. You can expect quite a bit of disruption while it’s being done, but many owners say the comfort is well worth it. Cost Factors. As with any home improvement project, there are no true straightforward costs. There are factors that will influence your cost one way or another. Be sure to keep these factors in mind as you research the general cost of this project. Square Footage of Flooring. The square footage of your home will help to determine the price. Oddly enough, smaller projects tend to cost more per square foot than larger ones. For example, a 5,0. This is because a larger area is usually a lot more open and easier to work in. In small areas, such as bathrooms, some people opt for a heating mat in thin- set cement instead. This is used as a supplement to existing heating systems and not as a replacement. Large or small, the most affordable way to install the system is to do it during new construction or during an extensive remodel, when the floors will be non- existent (yet) or are being torn up anyway. This will reduce the labor costs of drilling holes in your existing flooring and other modifications. Type of Radiant Heating. Which type of system you use will also affect the cost. There are two types of radiant heating used in residential settings: electric radiant and hydronic (hot water). Electrically heated systems cost more than hydronic systems, about $8. Hydronic systems cost about $6. Existing Flooring. If you currently have a floor in place, the cost of drilling into or removing the existing floor will add to your cost by varying degrees depending on what kind of floor you have (stone, wood, linoleum, tile, etc.) and how large a space it is. Also, if concrete needs to be added, your floor may need additional supports for the added weight. The installation for radiant heating will be the most affordable with new construction or during a remodel when floors are already removed. Temperature Zones. If you are installing a radiant floor heater as a whole- house system, you may find some rooms require different amounts of heat to be comfortable. This may lead you to establish “temperature zones” where a living room might be kept at a warmer temperature than a bedroom. Larger rooms may require more heat than smaller rooms. This will add to the complexity of the system, require more equipment, or more elaborate equipment (such as multi- zone programmable thermostats). Normal Cost Factors. As with any contracted job, factors that will affect your overall cost include: Distance to the job site. Workload of the contractor. Local labor rates. Clean- up and disposal of debris. Return to Top. How Does Radiant Heating Work? Radiant heating has been around a very long time. Its invention is credited to Caius Sergius Orata, a famous Roman merchant and hydraulic engineer. His “hanging floors” were heated from underneath by fires tended by slaves. However, examples of a similar system predate these by about 2,0. Mohenjo- Daro. Whichever the case, they greatly improved the comfort level of ancient people as they continue to do today. Radiant heating works on the basic thermodynamic principle that says “hot air rises”. The lines underneath your floor generate heat by electrical or hydronic means. This heat rises up evenly from the floor, warming up the lower part of the floor and cooling gradually as it rises. Warm air is generally harder for your body to process than cool air because it has fewer oxygen molecules than cool air. With the floor warm, the bulk of your body (your legs, arms, and torso) stay comfortably warm while your nose and mouth can breathe in more oxygen- rich cool air. Because the heat is being radiated, not “blown”, you should know about what types of flooring it works best with. Ceramic Tiles – These work best with this kind of heating. They conduct heat wonderfully and store it for quite some time. Wood Flooring – This can work with radiant floor heating, but the warming of the air can cause the wood to expand and contract as it goes through its cycles. Wood strip flooring fares better than plank flooring as the narrow strips don’t expand and contract as much. Laminated wood flooring has good stability for this application. Linoleum – It’s best to contact the manufacturer for compatibility. Some may off- gas or discolor due to the heat. Carpet – Carpets are actually quite insulating. They can prevent the warmth from coming through efficiently. The thicker the carpet, the more insulating it is. In fact, the oil crisis in the 1. Stone – Stone flooring will hold the heat for quite some time. It’s one of the more popular floorings for homes with radiant floor heating. Some stone may take quite some time to come up to the desired temperature. After the installation, it can take as much as a week to get up to temperature! However, once it’s there, it holds the heat for quite a while. Worth remembering is that some floors use an adhesive to hold them in place. Make sure your adhesive is compatible with a radiant floor heater. Return to Top. Types of Radiant Heating Explained. For residential settings there are two types of systems that are used, electric and hydronic. A third type exists, air, but it isn’t as efficient and is mostly used in commercial and industrial settings). While the end result is the same, they deliver their heat differently. Return to Top. Electric. Electric systems are essentially a large heating pad installed beneath thin- set cement. Because they use your electricity to maintain heat, they are costlier to operate than hydronic systems, but they are more affordable to install. Also, they can often be a DIY project depending on the size of the room. Like the hydronic system, the temperature is maintained by a thermostat. This adjusts itself throughout the day as the programming dictates, ensuring a comfortable temperature in the room or rooms. Installing an electric system can cost from $7. Because it can be installed as mats, the installation cost is significantly less than a hydronic system. Return to Top. Hydronic. Hydronic systems use a boiler to heat water, and then a pump to circulate that hot water through the tubing. If you are heating a small room, such as a bathroom, you might be able to tie into your existing water heater. A larger room might require its own water heater. The water heater will increase the cost of installation, but will still be one of the more affordable radiant heat options. A 5. 0- gallon water heater can cost from $3. Based on the programming of the thermostat, the water heater will send hot water through pipes that are installed beneath your floor to provide the warmth. The pipes used to be made of normal plumbing materials like copper. However, these pipes eventually corrode and leak. Modern systems use a flexible tubing called cross- linked polyethylene, or PEX for short. Early forms of this material used to leak oxygen and reduce the efficiency of the systems, but current PEX has been refined to remove this flaw. Some sources state that a boiler is used instead of a water heater. The boiler contains a mixture of water and antifreeze and is most often used in very large settings such as commercial spaces or where it gets very cold. Boilers are far more expensive than water heaters, often costing around $6,0. Installing a hydronic system can cost from $6,0. Operating costs are lower than electric systems because water conducts and holds heat very well, meaning there is less actual operating time. Return to Top. Pros and Cons of Radiant Floor Heating. Like anything, radiant floor heating has its good points and its bad points. Here are the basics in a nutshell: Pros. Provides even heating throughout the room, eliminating cold spots. Furniture can be arranged in the room without worrying about blocking vents. Because air isn’t being blown around, the allergens in the air don’t get picked up by your respiratory system. Objects on the floor will pick up some of the heat from the floor and radiate it. This not only helps keep the room warm, it avoids your having to sit down on a cold sofa! They are 1. 0% to 3. HVAC systems. They are silent. Even if the power goes out, your heated floor will retain the heat for some time. Cons. It’s a very involved installation process if you already have floors. It’s better to install them during construction or during a massive remodel. You will need to find a contractor who knows how to install the system. Specific knowledge is required, so ask about experience in the project. They don’t work well with all floors. Carpet, for example, can actually keep the heat from getting through effectively. You may need a dehumidifier to keep humidity from building up on your floor. It can take a while for the heat to build up enough to heat the room.
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