| Most radiant heat flooring systems installed today | | | | have heated carpets heating your house. For tile |
| are hydronic but, in many situations, a radiant | | | | floors some mats are thin enough to be |
| heater is a better option. Making the right decision | | | | embedded in a thin mortar grout layer directly |
| often means researching the real benefits and | | | | below the tiles. |
| costs rather than blindly accepting the | | | | By law, radiant electric heater systems can be no |
| advertisements of manufacturer's. | | | | more than 15 watts per square foot of floor. This |
| In hydronic systems a water heater or boiler | | | | means that the cables are smaller and have to be |
| heats water or some other heat-conducting liquid | | | | spaced closer together in thin mat systems to |
| remotely. The liquid is then pumped through plastic | | | | maintain uniform floor heating. Unfortunately, this |
| tubing embedded in the floors in your house. The | | | | also means the electric heater mats are more |
| floors in turn radiate this heat up onto you and | | | | expensive compared to free form electric cables |
| your rooms. | | | | embedded in concrete or gypsum. However, since |
| A radiant heater works basically the same way. | | | | mats are so much easier to install the savings in |
| However, instead of using water filled tubes they | | | | labor time and reduced subfloor requirements |
| use electric grids or mats to heat the floor. A | | | | usually balances out the overall cost. |
| radiant electric heater is much cheaper and easier | | | | Many manufacturers of thin radiant electric heater |
| to install compared to hydronic systems because | | | | systems will boast of the rapid response times of |
| it doesn't require a boiler or water heater. It is | | | | their floors. A thin mat radiant electric heater can |
| also easier to zone the heating in your house with | | | | heat a room in as little as 30 minutes to an hour. |
| a radiant electric heater. | | | | This makes thin mat systems ideal for small |
| Heater systems use either loops of electrically | | | | rooms that are used only a few times a day such |
| insulated cables or pre-made mats with the cables | | | | as the bathroom in the morning. |
| already woven into the fabric. Both hydronic | | | | However, there is a down side to this as well that |
| systems and radiant electric heater systems | | | | manufacturers don't always tell you about. Since |
| embed the tubes or cables in your floors the | | | | the thermal mass of thin mat floors is so small |
| same way. Early systems embedded the cables | | | | there is no place to store the heat so it can also |
| directly inside concrete floors. More recently a 1 | | | | drop quickly. |
| to 2 inch thick layer of gypsum concrete has | | | | It is not always easy to figure the cost |
| been used over wood or concrete subfloors. The | | | | effectiveness of hydronic radiant floors compared |
| trend is toward increasingly thinner embedding | | | | to electric heater systems. But generally hydronic |
| materials to get the heat closer to you. This also | | | | systems are better for large buildings because a |
| reduces the thickness and weight of the floors | | | | single boiler or water heater can cover a very |
| needed to support the system. Some of the | | | | large area. The cost of radiant electric heater |
| more advanced electric heater systems have | | | | systems can be figured almost completely by |
| gotten so thin that they can be installed between | | | | square footage making them ideal for smaller |
| your carpet and the carpet padding. You literally | | | | houses or for spot heating smaller rooms. |