You are best off ensuring your floor and "envelope" are airtight first. And insulated. Otherwise operating costs will be higher than the average.

Here is a link that might be useful: Self-leveling compound & radiant heat: what I learned.

Hot water or electric? Are you wanting to warm your floor with it or heat the room?

As to comfort:
We just put hot water heat under the floors in a bathroom and kitchen, and took out the old radiators. The kitchen floor is hardwood with the heat through tubes in the plywood subfloor layer (can't remember the name of that product off-hand, sorry) and yes, it's pleasantly warmish. The bathroom floor, slate tile on concrete into which the water tubes were imbedded, is heavenly.

The crawlspace is insulated - nothing more we can do.

It would be electric radiant heat.

Thanks.

I haven't a clue how one would calculate the cost of running radiant heat vs another form so my post won't be of much help. I just wanted to say that we recently installed water-filled radiant heat tracks and tubing in the kitchen it's fabulous. We have installed the cement backer board but not the slate tiles yet so I can't attest to the final product but walking on that warm floor is heavenly.
The radiant floor heat has replaced 1 large radiator and we're still burning through the same amount of oil. We REALLY have to get the rest of this house insulated. I'm so sick and tired of heating the atmosphere!

There are two types of this stuff: one for comfort, which would go under you tiles to take the chill off of the floor when you walk on it. They are almost always electric. The second, is one that will actually heat the room and it's temps are generally higher and these systems are almost always water driven.

You can't just look at the daily cost to decide, especially if you need to upgrade or purchase a boiler to heat water for the system and the piping and pumps to regulate it. That is a fairly sizable capital cost that would need to be expensed over the system's life and added to the daily cost to arrive at an affordability #.

So, which type are you talking about?

COMFORT - - just putting it under the floor to take the chill off - so it would be electric radiant heat.

As with most people, we spend a lot of time in the kitchen. In talking to different people, some have said it has only been maybe a dollar a day to run 24/7 and others have said it raised their electric bill by hundreds of dollars. I don't know anyone personally who has the radiant heat, only talking to people in showrooms!!

Thanks, Pat

With a programmable thermostat, you can oversize it and let the thermostat adjust floor temperature to suit your whims.

To figure out consumption, or cost, power (Watts) is the one and only thing you need to know. Watts consumed add to your house heating, and thereby reduce your House Heating Load by an equal amount, as long as you have a normally insulated floor crawlspace.

You may think you want a weak system just to warm the floor a little bit. Nonetheless, oversize it and let the thermostat do the mental arithmetic to control the current (lowering the amperage = less power = less warmth). Warmth is comfort. Comfort is subjective. You may want more warmth once you get the floor warmed up a little bit.

I've linked below a thread that discusses what can happen with a crawlspace underneath, that may be well insulated or less than well insulated.

Hth

Here is a link that might be useful: A thread that shows all the problems and ends in a Thank_You

OK... here goes.

Most electric radiant heating systems put out 12W/SF. So, say you have a 100SF room (decent size bathroom). It would take 28.8 KW-hr per day to run this (1200/1000 * 24hrs/day). Now, to run this for 30 days would be 864 KW-hr. At $0.10/KW-hr (average here in OK), that would be $86.40 per month to run. Now, please understand this is running 24/7. You will NOT be running this thing 24/7, even on a thermostat it will turn off intermittently.

Based on the assumption that you would run it for approximately 4 hours per day (full on for 4 hours), that would be $14.40 per month.

Again, please undersand this is based wholly on crude assumptions. Each installation will be different. Hope this helps.

I put electric floor heat in when we did our kitchen. We actually tiled the adjoining family room and eating area, almost 800 sq ft. Part of our floor is on concrete slab and that was the area I was primarily concerned with - very cold in the winter. I keep it set low so it just takes the chill off the floor. Mine has 3 separate zones and can be programmed to go off and on at least 3 times a day - or you can set it based on the temperature. We used Warmup brand which is designed to act as a primary heat source - although I doubt that would be sufficient in Buffalo! The difference is that their wire gets hotter than most other brands and is coated with Teflon to withstand the high heat. I think most brands use a PVC coating.

One thing you might look into to make it more efficient is to use insulated backer board under the wire. Warmup sells that but we did not use it because we didn't want to raise the floor level any more than necessary.

Anyway - I would definitely do it again. And my son has a house in Rochester that sounds similar to yours - the kitchen is an addition that sits on a crawl space and is always very cold. I would definitely advise him to add the floor heat if and when he ever remodels, especially since the rates for electricity up there seem very cheap compared to what we pay in Maryland.

assuming the cost for the product is similar(hot water vs electric), would running the hot water system be less?

In my case I will have to upgrade my electrical service and that gets into some $. With the pex system, I think all I am looking at is running a small recirculating motor on a timer. It would not be for room heating - just warming up the tiles. I will have 200-300 sq ft to do. I must be missing something

Hmmmm....I have electric floor heat in my master bath and new kitchen. It's also just to take the chill off the tile floors, not to heat the room. I have been wondering about the most efficient way to set the programmable thermostat: Turn it so low it doesn't send any heat to the floor when the house is unoccupied during the day? Or simply turn it down? I don't think "off" per se is an option for one of the programmable periods...

Great answers and things to consider - THANKS.

Called the electric company and what they told me was for 200 sq feet, 24 hrs a day x 30 days and 5 cents a kwh = 120v would be $10.00 a month, at 240v would be $20.00 a month. I was pleasantly suprized!!!

Time to tell my husband this is what I want!!!!!!

Ummm... Not trying to burst your bubble or talk you out of heated mats, as I have them installed in my kitchen and bath, but your electric company doesn't know what they are talking about. Voltage doesn't change the cost of heating your floors. It's all about Watts, not Volts.

Good luck to you.

stoni - ok1 is correct that utility co. employee has no clue what they are talking about!

I didn't mark it down - they asked if it was 120 or 240 - I assumed it was volts - could it be something else? think I'll call them back.

Country - so do you like the heated floors in your kitchen? did you see a big increase in your electric bill?

I put electric radiant heat mats under the tile floor during my bathroom remodel (~120 sq ft). The purpose is to keep the floor warm, not heat the whole room. The mats have a programmable thermostat, which I set for less than the room temp when I don't plan to be using the bathroom, and for more than the room temp when I'll be using it so the radiant heat will come on.

I haven't noticed any significant change (i.e. more than a $10 difference) in my electric bill and I have to say that I really like the warm floor.

stonitsch, it's OK, you ended up with the same numbers as those published on Electric Heat Cable company web sites. About 15 cents a day, more or less, give or take. And a double higher number if you double that.

stonitsch, I wrote Watts too. Watts per square foot. When multiplied by total Square Footage, it gives you a total.

Ask then, how much any heater of that size (X Watts) costs if it's left on all the time. Anyone gifted in multiplication can provide the answer.

stonitsch, if you call the electric company, you could ask that same question too.

This is the question to ask.

Sometimes, asking what question to ask is the right thing to do.

"If I have a X Watt consuming thingie left ON all the time, what does it cost?" is a good question to ask.

Later, if you install a cable that is half that wattage, you can divide by half. It's a direct correlation. No need to ask anyone.

-

A thermostat lets you have a stronger than necessary heater being tempered by a reduced current.

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Whether the cables run on 240V or on 120V, it's all about Watts. Anything a 120V system can produce, can also be produced by a 240V system. (If 240V, the same amount of power is produced when the current is halved, which is what the thermostat does.)

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The price of Watts (price, in your area) multiplied by your consumption of Watts = the cost to you.

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Hth

I like them.... can't say anything about the increase in the bill, they were installed in my new house. Haven't turned them off yet for a whole month, so can't say what the increase would be, but my gut tells me it's about $20-$25 per month, depending on the weather. I am heating about 250 SF, and have an uninsulated concrete slab.

HTH

I can't tell you abut the cost. I can only tell you about the comfort. I have lived in Buffalo with whole house radiant heat. I wore shorts all winter and went barefoot. My dad wore his jogging suit and was comfortable. He was older and had not body fat. That was in 2000...my gas bill was 1200 for the year, our windows were awful, and we needed more attic insulation. For the time frame my heating bills were less than anyone else with a 1800SF house. We didn't set the thermostat back, just an even 69 degrees all winter. Perfect. I have regretted the sale of the house and am now going to retrofit 2 rooms in our new home to blend with the baseboard we have. Can wait to have floor heat again. Oh, buy the way I am 4'10" and forced air is always cold air at my level. I don't care what any GC says, radiant heat is the most comfortable and efficient way to live.

stonitsch what did you end up doing? I am considering running heating flooring in our kitchen area (300 sq ft) but nervous on how much a month it would cost me. I am in buffalo as well and electric is not exactly cheap around here. Thanks!