Solid Hardwood, Engineered and Laminate Flooring - Radiant Heat Floor system, easy?

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barqs27
01-17-06, 01:32 PM
This weekend I was watching the Bob Vila show and saw them install a Radiant Heated floor in a kitchen. I looked on Bob villa’s website to remember the company, it was Warmzone. There website http://www.warmzone.com is pretty informative. They offer all types of radiant heat products. I called and talk to a rep there on Monday and they put a quote together for me. They seem to know there stuff but I am worried about this really being a “do it yourself” project. The option they put together for me involves electric and looks like it will be a much easier installation then having to worry about water pipes and such. I guess my question is, has anyone here done any do it yourself radiant heating in your floors, in particular electric? It sounds easy but I want to get another opinion on the matter. Most of it will be going under a wood floor and then there will also be a small tiled area. Here is the Bob Vila episode (http://www.bobvila.com/BVTV/Bob_Vila/Episode-0118.html), the system they put in was really cool looking.

I am giving up on the hydronics as I have to small of an area to justify getting a boiler.
So they recommended a product they have called a BlueHeat system (http://www.warmzone.com/cable-floor-heating.asp).
BlueHeat is the one they put together for me but they have one called ComfortTile (http://www.warmzone.com/under-floor-heating.asp) too. The Zmesh (http://www.warmzone.com/RadiantFloorHeating/howitworks.asp) product they have was very cool looking but wasn’t as cheap as my option.

Anyways, back to my question. Anyone have any experience installing any of these electric radiant heat systems? I need to move fairly quickly as we want to replace our existing carpet immediately.


TheAxeman
01-18-06, 11:04 AM
I recently renovated the bathroom in my home and put down the electric radiant heat matting under a tiled floor which we purchased from Warmly Yours. The installation itself is very straightforward if you follow the layout detail which the company normally provides. Just make sure you end the matting in the area where the wires will need to run to the thermostat. For installation all I really needed was a pair of scissors and a hot glue gun to attach the matting to the floor. I'm not sure about your application under wood, but make absolutely sure that you have matting under every part of the floor which you want heated. Under the tile, any area that didn't get the matting (next to the toilet) is cold....The matting works great. We bought the thermostat with a timer so that the floor comes up to 90 F during periods that we know we will be using the area. One thing you might inquire about is the electrical consumption. In an area with high electric costs I can imagine it can bring up your bill substantially if the room you are doing is fairly large....Good luck with it...
Axe

twelvepole
01-18-06, 03:15 PM
Check with the manufacturer of the heat system for installation recommendations for the type of flooring you want to install. Also check with the manufacturer of the flooring for a thumbs up for installation over heat system.