Energy Smart Design

The choices for the flooring material are virtually limitless; you can use carpet, hardwood, linoleum and laminate, or you can pick 'high-mass' substances such as tile, marble or slate -- all with good heat holding properties so you can cut some more on your energy use.  For substantial savings on your utility bills, you may want to consider thermal mass floor which are excellent heat holder; and if you fancy an eco-friendly solution, couple the radiant floor design to a solar thermal system -- using the sun-heated water to run around your house through water pipes.

Hydronic radiant floors are designed so that warm water runs beneath it via plastic tubing.  This system is made up of a water heater (boiler), a circulation pump, a thermostat and a manifold of valves to facilitate water circulation.

Installation of a hydronic system is typically handled by HVAC contractors or professional plumbers because of the floor area and complexity involved.  This cost can range from US$6-US$12 per square foot -- double or triple that for alternative heating systems.

However, it offers tremendous operational saving when runs on at least one whole level (more savings can be achieved when used on the entire house).  With such floor area, savings of about 33% is possible when compared to condition air.

Vinyl, tile and carpet are all suitable for this system (they can go directly on top of hydronic masonry floor) but some heat loss is unavoidable when used with materials that don't hold heat relatively well, such as carpet (not so great) versus tile (great!).  The plastic tubing can run under a wooden floor as well, by positioning itself just beneath the finished flooring or it can get tightened to the underside of the subfloor, between joists.  If you can reach the underside of the floor, maybe you can use this option as a part of your home improvement project.

Electric radiant floor design makes use of tiny heating wires, not unlike those you find in an electric blanket, to warm up the ceramic tiles on top.  Due to these fine wires, the required flooring elevation is minimum; making it ideal for remodelling.

Usually radiant floor design is applied on kitchens, mudrooms and bathroom, where the touch of warm floor is so desirable.  It comes with its own temperature controls and it is never intended as a replacement to the central heating system -- instead the electric radiant floor is designed to play a complimentary role to that central heating system.

To add electric-driven radiant floor design to an existing space, a separate 15- to 20-amp GFCI-protected circuit (to power it), and an additional tile floor are required. It would be a perfect fit for your remodelled home.

A bathroom-size retrofit will set you back US$400 to US$700 (new tile inclusive). The electricity consumed would be similar to that of 3 x 100W lightbulbs.