Should You Have Radiant Floor Heating in Your Florida Home?

In a mild climate like the Palm Beach County area’s, radiant floor heating can provide just the kind of gentle warmth you need on cool fall and winter days. Consider these things before installation:

Construction Considerations

The ideal time to install a radiant flooring system is while the building is still under construction and the floor hasn’t been finished yet. Retro-fitting a system into a finished floor is definitely possible, even in an older house, but it means the entire floor will have to be removed and replaced, which increases the installation costs. If you’re building or remodeling, make your decision on radiant flooring early.

The type of floor covering you use will affect your radiant floor’s performance. Radiant floor heating works best with tile, stone, concrete, laminate, and other materials that conduct heat well. Thin carpet is also an option. Thick carpet interferes with heat transfer, while linoleum and solid wood are likely to sustain heat damage.

If you have allergies, the combination of a heating system that doesn’t blow air around and easy-to-clean hard flooring is ideal.

Radiant Floor Heating Options

Hydronic radiant floors, the most common and energy efficient type, use tubes under the floor to circulate hot water from a boiler. Their efficiency makes them practical for use in large rooms or even throughout the entire house. On the down side, if you don’t have a boiler, you’ll need to install one in order to run a hydronic radiant floor system and that adds to the upfront costs.

Electric radiant flooring uses cables under the floors to produce heat. They don’t require a boiler, but they typically cost more to run than hydronic systems. For this reason, they’re usually limited to small spaces such as the bathroom. That said, thanks to southeastern Florida’s warm climate, you might find you need so little heating that an electric system is still cost-effective enough for you.

Even in a mild climate, an efficient and convenient radient heating system can bring you a lot of comfort. Contact us at NisAir Air Conditioning and Heating today to schedule an installation.