Radiant Electric Floor Heating does not Save Money

There are many great selling points for electric under floor heating. The radiant design of the electric heating system is a great idea. It is easy to install which is very appealing.. You will be warm and feel great on nice warm floors. There are so many things to like about this type of heat. So what is the drawback to it?

One of the latest fads in under floor or radiant electric heating is the continued development of electric radiant heating. This heating comes in many different forms and can be installed easily and at what seems to be a reasonable cost. However before you get stuck with a heating system in your home or business make sure that you take a good look at what it will cost you to heat with electric.

Electricity will only ever make 3,415 BTU’s of heat from one kilowatt of electric. This is something that cannot be changed. No matter what you do to electricity it will always produce the same BTU’s per KW. So for this reason you can change the effect of the heat coming from the electric, but you can’t change the fact that you still need a certain number of BTU’s from the electric to feel warm. These BTU’s cost money. Oh and did I mention that of the electricity that is produce by most power plants, only about 1/3 of the electric makes to your home? This fact alone should make you not want to use more electric.

The price that the electric will cost you is the problem. There is nothing efficient about electric heating. Electric is expensive now and it will be going higher as more states deregulate electricity. Now electric radiant heat is probably the best way to heat with electric because of the radiant feature you will be able to “feel” warm at lower air temperatures. That will save you money. However the cost of the electricity to get the heat to that point will still have you wondering why you ever installed that system.

Under floor radiant electric heating is a very good heat and there are ways such as hydronic heating systems that use warm water to make your floor nice and warm. Today’s high efficiency boilers will give you a nice heat from LP gas or natural gas at near 100% efficiency. If you are looking to heat a very large space with radiant heat make sure that you compare all of the ways to produce radiant heat.

If you do decide to go with electric under floor heating then here are a few suggestions. Insulate your house like you were living on the moon with the ultimate in temperature extremes. The money you will spend on extra insulation will pay back many tomes over if you use electric to heat with. Use electric if you are only using the house for seasonal use and you want a heating system that is easy to maintain. Another good way to use it is if you only want radiant floor heating for a small part of your house like the bathroom.