Heated flooring is a great way to replace or subsidize the typical heating already available, such as central heating or a free standing heater. There are many benefits of having heated floors, but along with those benefits come drawbacks.
As with anything, you should outweigh the pros and cons, especially when investing in something such as heated flooring. Here are some pros and cons of heated floors:
Pro– heated floors helps to keep your home warm and you won’t have to worry about your feet being cold again.
Con– hard floors. If you are into soft carpeting type flooring, heated flooring may not be the best option for you.
Pro– heated systems usually outlast your homes furnace by up to 35 years.
Con– they are expensive to install, much more than simply replacing your furnace.
Pro– less noise than a heating system, there is actually no noise at all.
Con– installing the system can be a pain since you need to tear up the flooring you do have in order to install the coils and/or pipes that are required.
Pro– allows you to place your furniture anywhere since you don’t have to worry about covering up a vent.
Con– many places are still unsure of how to install, so the demand is actually high for those who are professional installers. It may take you time and extra money when finding the right people for the job.
Pro– the heat is more evenly distributed and you won’t have warm air blown on you.
Con– heated flooring may take a while to heat the house up.
Pro– you choose which rooms you want to stay heated.
While having a heated floor is not essential some people do prefer them, as they see the pros outweigh the cons in their particular situation. The best way to go with heated flooring, as it will save time and money, is when you are building your new home; you can have the builders put the heated flooring directly in without having the extra costs of ripping up your floors and putting new ones back in.
Making sure to find the right person for the job is also essential as many people do not know the technicalities it takes to install these floors. Because of their inefficiency, maintenance is relatively low and therefore if building a new home should be considered.
Not only do they help with the costs in the long run, if you do decide to sell your home, it can add a lot of value and makes it much more appealing to some potential buyers.