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No cold tile in this bathroom, thanks to radiant heat under the floor.
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"I find most people are like me when it comes to preferring a cool bedroom to sleep in while having the adjacent bathroom comfortably warm when they get up," says builder/remodeler Joe Loconte. "The best way to accomplish this is to have radiant heat in the bathroom floor. And it doesn't mean your client has to spend a lot more for this luxury."
President of Olivewood Construction in Los Altos, Calif., Joe has built and remodeled a number of high-end homes in the San Francisco Bay Area. Many of them have radiant heat, often throughout the house, but especially in the master bath if the project is a remodel. Joe points out some of the features and benefits of radiant heat:
- Affordability. For a small area such as a master bath, an electric mat under the tile floor is the affordable heating method. For a 200-square-foot bath, a mat typically can be purchased for $200 from the manufacturer. The total installation, excluding the tile, can be accomplished for approximately $1,500.
- Ease of installation. The contractor draws a template of the bathroom floor on paper or cardboard and sends it to the manufacturer, who returns the electric mat made to size. After an electrician installs the mat, the tile installer spreads the mud and lays the tile or marble. To provide the electrical current, you usually need a 20-amp GFCI dedicated circuit with 110 volts.
- Flexibility of temperature. The kit from the manufacturer usually includes a thermostat and a timer. Your client will have several options in the time periods when they may want to heat their bath. For example, they can set the timer to heat the floor from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. and again in the evening. This flexibility is especially ideal for a temperate climate such as California.
- Comfort. "Heated floors keep you warmer than a forced-air heating system," Joe says. "If your feet are warm, you will stay warm. And you can typically set the temperature lower than with forced air and be comfortable." That helps save energy.
While radiant heat with hydronic tubing usually is not practical for small areas in a home because of the expense of the boiler or hot water heater needed, it is a worthwhile consideration for a large addition. You can also retrofit a large area of an existing home, combining a forced-air system with hydronic radiant heat in the same house. (For more information on retrofitting, see Retrofitting Radiant Heat.)
Joe's own 3,000-square-foot home can serve as an example of what radiant heat under a large addition would be like. The heat in Joe's home is generated by a 175-gallon hot water heater with 185,000 BTUs that heats the water to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in one hour.
"Installing such a system costs three times the price of forced air," Joe says. "It runs $10 a square foot in California, but is far more efficient. Considering the cost of heating oil today, a hydronic system will pay for itself in eight years."
Whatever method of heating they ultimately choose, it is worth having your clients consider the benefits of radiant heat, at least for unparalleled comfort in the bathroom. No more chilled toes—just a touch of pampering to start and end every day.
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