Can Radiant Heat Floors Cut My Utility Bill?

Radiant heat floors are a luxury that can be timer-controlled for efficiency and savings. But find out whether installing them will offset existing utility costs.

LESLIE: Mary Lee in Washington has a call about radiant heat for the floor. Tell us what’s going on.

MARY LEE: I’m going to remodel my bathroom. It’ll have a tile floor. Some of my neighbors in my condominium have put radiant heat under the floors and say they love it. But I wonder if there’s any efficiency to it or if it’s just an expensive comfort.

TOM: I think it’s more of a luxury item, because your condominium probably has enough heat with the core heating system.

That said, it is kind of nice to have that toasty floor in the bathroom. And if you don’t mind the expense to install radiant heat, you can control the expense to run it because you’re always going to – you’re only going to operate it when you need it. You can put your radiant floors on a timer, you could heat them up just for one particular bath/shower experience. You can really control that usage.

But it is awfully nice to have. There’s nothing efficient about it; it’s definitely going to cost you some money to run because it’s electric. And it’s the most expensive form of heat.

MARY LEE: OK. Thank you.