If you are undertaking a house renovation or home remodeling project, it’s a fantastic opportunity to add some modern touches to your home. With the temperature growing colder, winter is the perfect time to consider an alternative heating method to keep your home warm and cozy with underfloor heating. Underfloor heating is more of a luxury item, and makes all the difference throughout your home. It is especially common to add in bathrooms or rooms in which you spend a lot of time standing on the floor barefoot, if your flooring is particularly cold like a slab home, or in a home that is located in a colder winter climate.
Below we have listed a few of the pros and cons that come with the addition of underfloor heating to your home to help you decide whether or not this is an excellent feature for you and your family. Keep reading to learn more!
Pros
Even Heating Throughout Your Home
An underfloor heating system ensures excellent heat distribution as it heats the rooms by radiation. Through this property, the hot air being lighter than the cold air from the bottom slowly rises upwards. In this way, underfloor heating exceeds the limit of traditional heating systems as there are no warm or cold spots underfoot.
System is Hidden
Another great thing about underfloor heating is that it can be under hard flooring such as wood and tile. Therefore, it does not invade living space as it is a heating system that does not consist of visible elements therefore allowing a wide range of architectural and furnishing freedom. The system is placed under the floor and allows you to recover a lot of space in the rooms due to the elimination of radiators.
Energy Efficient
Underfloor heating is a fantastic alternative to other heating methods because of how energy efficient it is. It also adapts perfectly to systems that use renewable energy such as heat pumps, biomass boilers and solar thermal panels, therefore making it an excellent choice for green living.
Cons
Major Investment
The investment that must be made to install underfloor heating is much greater than that required for a traditional radiator system. This disadvantage, however, can be compensated by the high energy and tax savings due to the use of this system.
Slow Heating
Underfloor heating is not the optimal addition for those who need immediate heat concentrated in a few hours. heating with radiators allows your home to reach your desired temperature in a short time while underfloor heating must be turned on at least 24 hours in advance in order to reach your optimal temperature.
Existing vs New Builds
Installing underfloor heating in your home is much easier in new builds instead of existing builds since it is a planned addition to your home from the beginning of its construction. It is a lot harder to incorporate into your home when working with an existing build, especially in older homes, as the floor typically is not level or deep enough to fit it in the underlayment of the house's original design. This drastically raises the price when pre-existing floor plans are being used.
Pricey Repairs
After the installation of this system, there is no room for major changes, since the heating pipes are inaccessible without operating on the floor. For example, in the event of serious leaks or malfunctions, the floor affected by the issue must be removed. This makes repairs pricey since you will need to rip out flooring and redo it if system fails as you. While this is not a common occurrence, it's important to keep in mind that anything can break.
The floor system is a very fashionable type of heating, not only for its innovative heating capabilities of the rooms, but also for its eco-friendly characteristics and the possibility of drastically reducing the cost of your energy bill. While there are many factors to consider when it comes to deciding on whether or not installing underfloor heating would be a good fit for you, we hope this blog has helped you in your decision.
~This blog was brought to you by S. Donnelly Interiors. Learn more about the interior design project process by following Stephanie Donnelly and her interior design services in Glen Ellyn, Illinois and the surrounding areas!
