Is radiant floor heating a good option for your custom home? Learn more here.
A custom home is built to accommodate a family’s unique lifestyle and taste, not only for one season, but year-round. Besides selecting a floor plan and wall color, custom homeowners also need to consider making their house a home no matter how hot or cool it is outside. As autumn approaches, those looking to build a custom home might want to consider the pros and cons of radiant floor heating.
What Is Radiant Floor Heating?
Radiant floor heating is often a supplementary form of heating in the home. Hydronic floor heating consists of fluid in plastic tubing, while electric floor heating uses specially-designed electric wiring. The long wire or tube lies under the flooring in a zig-zagging fashion for even coverage. While forced-air heating blows warm air throughout a house, radiant floor heating transfers energy directly from the floor to the people in it.
Where Is It Best Used?
This type of heating is a great solution for adding warmth to rooms with tile or concrete flooring, like kitchens, bathrooms, basements, and garages. It also works well for a room that’s over the garage. It may be used throughout multiple rooms as well, possibly replacing the need for forced-air heating.
Radiant Floor Heating Pros
Radiant floor heating is significantly more efficient than forced-air systems and more even in distribution. Instead of warming people up via the surrounding air alone, radiant heat directly transfers heat from the flooring up through the person’s feet to their body. You also won’t likely feel a draft or a chill with it, since the heat will rise evenly across the floor. These systems are also quiet, require no maintenance, and last for decades.
Radiant Floor Heating Cons
One downside is that it will raise your floor level by about an eighth of an inch. However, this is why it works well with new construction projects, which take these elements into consideration for the design. Like all material things, it will need replacing eventually, and this requires one to rip up the flooring, which is inconvenient. Radiant heat systems are also expensive, but are a better deal when used across larger square footage.
Let us be Your Trusted Maryland Home Builder
Are you ready to bring your dream home to life? Enlist the difference of Viking Custom Homes, Maryland’s trusted home builder of high-quality single-family homes for more than three decades. With over 30 years of experience and a reputation of excellence in over five Maryland counties, we offer the highest standard of customer service and quality assurance for your new home. If you are looking to build on one of our beautiful homesite offerings or on your own lot, we are eager to help you every step of the way towards building your dream home. Let us bring your dream to life by building a home where life unfolds! Contact us online or call today at 410-977-2188 to speak with a member of our trusted team. You can also visit our Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn for more information.