Heated floors / Discussions

...heated floor, it's new constrution. A heated floor can have a detrimental effect on some types of flooring, but there are many options. Is this a concrete floor? The easiest way is to just to polish it, a polished concrete floor is durable and affordable, and there is no problem if its heated. It’s more a problem with ...

...heated. If it isn't then I personally wouldn’t even consider it because it will be very uncomfortable, and if it is heated but the bills are sky high then  I wouldn’t either because that means it has very little or maybe even none.  On structural integrity - a house that old would probably have heaved and cracked if it...

I watched your videos with much interest but wasn't sure about the "trench" type perimeter "grade beam" in terms of supporting the house structure, and the fact that I have bedrock (Lake Huron / limestone) 18" below the surface. Wouldn't a poured perimeter wall down to bedrock be a better approach - before pouring the ...

...floors you can see that much more heat is contained by the insulation. Also worth noting is the light red colour of the uninsulated floor which indicates a cooler temperature that the white-coloured insulated floors, which is less comfortable for occupants.  There are also insulated slab on grade form kits for purch...

Can tubing for a ground source heat pump be put under a slab on grade prefab form foundation kit to extract winter heat? We generally recommend people check with an engineer for any such matters, but that shouldn't be a problem at all. Installing tubing for a ground source heat pump (GSHP) under slab on grade foundatio...

...floors for backup heating, so a ductless mini-split heat pump is sufficient. It also depends on what you call comfortable - if you want to bring the temperature down to sub-arctic levels throughout the house, then a ducted system would probably serve you better. If you just want to remove a portion of the heat and humi...

We are in the planning stages of designing a new home to be built to passive house standards, although not interested in certifying it.  We are trying to decide between having a basement vs.  a slab.  The house will be around 3000 ft2 and we do have room to do either option.  Soil conditions are not a factor, we are lo...

...heated floors or electric mats heating systems are effectively the same in efficiency.  The differences are subtle, but in the case of the air heated floors, the heater is in the floor itself so all the heat is contained in the floor rather than escaping into the mechanical room where the boiler and manifolds are all e...

...heated floors, this solution is extremely well-insulated and removes the risk of leaks, and they are also engineered not to freeze, that may be the most energy efficient system as well as having a lower risk.