Radiant floor heat is a great way to add warmth and comfort in your home during the cold months of the year. You can use it to effectively warm your house in cold weather and your family will thank you for it. However, the question is does radiant floor heat add value to your home? To begin with, let’s discuss what radiant floor heat is and how it works. That way, we’ll better understand the question of whether or not it adds value to your home.

What is Radiant Floor Heat?

Radiant floor heat is when heating elements or water tubes are installed in your home, typically beneath the flooring. For pre-installed flooring, There are electric heating mats that can be installed beneath the subfloor between the floor joists. These specialized systems heat the objects that are close to them which in turn releases the heat into the home. Radiant heat uses a principle called infrared radiation. This is when an object is heated up and you can feel the heat from that object from a distance away, perhaps across the room.

Radiant floor heating is accomplished, generally, in two different ways. The first is to use electricity to heat the flooring and the heat is then distributed throughout the home. This is a great option for many homeowners, but it may increase your electric bill even though the system is still quite efficient. The other way of using radiant heat is called hydronic heating. This means that there are tubes with water in them installed, in the case of heated floors, under your carpet, or wood flooring. The water is then pumped through a boiler to heat it. Then it is pumped back through the tubes under the flooring where it releases the heat into your home for heating. Electrical heating is popular because you don’t need a boiler to heat the water in the tubes and generally requires less maintenance. However, both systems are very efficient in heating your home.

So, Does Radiant Floor Heat Add Value to Your Home?

The answer to that is, of course, yes it does add value to your home. Most people will not immediately consider radiant floor heat when they are considering buying a home. However, if the home already has radiant floor heat installed it will make a big impression. So, yes it does definitely bring more value to your home.

The question is why? It is important to understand why radiant heat adds value to your home. The answer starts with heated floors. Warm floors feel wonderful to step on, particularly when you wake up on a cold winter morning and put your feet on the floor. Just as a matter of practical daily living, heated floors add a degree of cozy comfort and warmth that you can’t get with regular duct heating. They are a very nice addition to have no matter where you live. But, if you live in a colder part of the country, it really helps to have radiant heat installed in your home.

Another reason radiant heat adds value to your home is, as a selling point, the heat is very evenly distributed around the home. In most homes, there are cold spots where the temperatures can be variable as compared to the rest of the home. With radiant heat, especially when it is used as heated floors, the warmth is evenly distributed throughout the home. It also adds reliability to the efficiency of how the home is heated.

Radiant Floors are Easy to Install

If you do want to go with heated floors, and your home is not new, it can be installed as an after move-in addition. This is an immense advantage. It can be fitted under tiles and under most plank flooring. That is a huge advantage if you are thinking about selling. You can have it installed and then use it as a great selling point. It may not be something that most people will immediately think of but when pointed out to them it will be a great point of interest.

The biggest selling point for radiant floor heat is simply the comfort and pleasure it will provide you. When your home has radiant heat it adds a sense of luxury to the home. Even in the middle of the cold and long winter, radiant floor heat will take the edge off and keep your home feeling comfortable and warm. This will keep everyone in the family warm and toasty. Walking into a warm home after being in cold gusts of wind and deep snow that chills your feet to the bone, stepping onto the warm floor will be a welcome change.

Something else to consider is that total coverage with heated floors can provide enough heat where duct systems do not have to run. Air duct systems forced air movement can disturb dust and allergens. This means floor heating is often considered to be better for people with allergies and other related issues. This adds another level of comfort you might find when you have radiant floor heating in your home.

Final Thoughts

Does radiant floor heat add to the value of your home? The answer is a resounding yes. For all the reasons mentioned above, from warm and toasty toes to it being a great selling point, to the benefit of reducing allergens, bring value to your home for you and for future homeowners. The value is both intrinsic, which means the value is found within the home for you personally, and extrinsic. Extrinsic is the value found in it by others from outside the home in the form of selling points.

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