Basement infloor heating

[jabjab]

Curious who has infloor heating in their basement. It appears that radiant infloor seems to be the popular choice but does this limit what I can pick for flooring? (carpet, engineered hardwood etc)

What's the typical cost per square foot?

[suntan]

You can use virtually anything as flooring.

But whatever you do, if you have tile in the basement, heating it is a must.

[eblend]

I heard that you shouldn't use real wood as it will dry up and can buckle, but engineered wood is fine as it's more stable. In my new place I will be doing glue on vinyl throughout as it's thin and will conduct the heat the most. You don't really want insulation between the heating tubes/wires and the surface, so carpet might also not be that great of an idea if you putting a soft bad underneath.

[XylathaneGTR]

I heard that you shouldn't use real wood as it will dry up and can buckle, but engineered wood is fine as it's more stable. In my new place I will be doing glue on vinyl throughout as it's thin and will conduct the heat the most. You don't really want insulation between the heating tubes/wires and the surface, so carpet might also not be that great of an idea if you putting a soft bad underneath.

Part of my basement is carpeted with infloor radiant heating - it's still noticeablely warm even with the underlay. I like it - soft and warm. Edit: Rest of the flooring is LVP.

[Doozer]

When we did our basement 10yrs ago, we put in-floor heating only in the bathroom. That room is tiled, the rest of the basement is laminate or carpet. TBH, we don't even notice the lack of heating in the rest of the basement, but boy is it nice having the tile floor in the bathroom heated when you're going to have a shower or something.

[nismodrifter]

When we did our basement 10yrs ago, we put in-floor heating only in the bathroom. That room is tiled, the rest of the basement is laminate or carpet. TBH, we don't even notice the lack of heating in the rest of the basement, but boy is it nice having the tile floor in the bathroom heated when you're going to have a shower or something.

This. If putting tile it's a must.

[suntan]

I heard that you shouldn't use real wood as it will dry up and can buckle, but engineered wood is fine as it's more stable. In my new place I will be doing glue on vinyl throughout as it's thin and will conduct the heat the most. You don't really want insulation between the heating tubes/wires and the surface, so carpet might also not be that great of an idea if you putting a soft bad underneath.

Real wood isn't appropriate for the basement regardless. It should never be a choice.

[ExtraSlow]

Heat is fine under carpet. Heat is fine under everything. Heat everything.

[benyl]

My basement has carpet, tile, engineered hardwood and paint. All seem fine with the infloor heat.

Cost depends on how much you are heating.

We did basement (1000 sqft), Garage (650 sqft) and 3 upstairs washrooms (maybe 400sqft all together) with hydronic. That was about $30K just for the piping and system. Doesn't include the foam for the concrete and additional basement height (due to the 4 inches of foam that we got).

The other thing it doesn't include, if you do the upstairs, is insulating the floor from underneath. There is a new code requirement to do that.

[prae]

My basement has carpet, tile, engineered hardwood and paint. All seem fine with the infloor heat.

Cost depends on how much you are heating.

We did basement (1000 sqft), Garage (650 sqft) and 3 upstairs washrooms (maybe 400sqft all together) with hydronic. That was about $30K just for the piping and system. Doesn't include the foam for the concrete and additional basement height (due to the 4 inches of foam that we got).

The other thing it doesn't include, if you do the upstairs, is insulating the floor from underneath. There is a new code requirement to do that.

Similar cost here, approx $25-35k for in-slab hydronic on about 1300sqft. A big piece of that was the boiler.

It's amazing how much it radiates warmth; i feel like it contributes to a more comfortable main floor. I really wanted to do more radiant throughout the house (eg. warmboard) but couldn't stomach the cost.

There are cheaper ways (eg. rig up a regular gas-fired HWT and a circulation pump), I know a builder that claims he can do an avg home under $10k that way, and have seen it in other new builds.

[jabjab]

The basement is about 700 sq ft one bedroom with kitchen. It will be going to a new build. Definitely want infloor heating in the tiled washroom. Bedroom will be carpet but kitchen and living space will either be a laminate or engineered hardwood and would put infloor there as well I'm thinking.

[benyl]

If you are just doing the tile washroom, electric might be the way. It would silly and not cost effective if you only do parts of the slab.

I haven't even turned on the slab yet in the basement (my office is down there). I am guessing the 4" of foam is keeping it warm. Maybe 6" of foam and you don't need infloor?

[Orbie]

When we built our house we put in hydronic radiant heating in our basement (1160sq.ft) and garage (670sq.ft) and it was just shy of $30K everything in so similar to what the others are saying here. So you'll probably be low 20's or less for your application if you do the whole basement. I haven't heard of any restrictions in floor material with that type of heating. Not sure if tech has changed but when I did mine it wasn't so much about the initial installation cost, it's heating efficiency and running costs, and hydronic at the time was the most efficient form of heating large areas.

[suntan]

Near as I can tell the electric heating we have for the basement and ensuite cost very little.

[arcticcat522]

There are cheaper ways (eg. rig up a regular gas-fired HWT and a circulation pump), .

I thought this wasn't allowed any more? I think I had someone telle this was against some code now. Could have been a bad dream I suppose.

[prae]

I thought this wasn't allowed any more? I think I had someone telle this was against some code now. Could have been a bad dream I suppose.

I only pee sitting down because Justin Trudeau told me I had to.

[arcticcat522]

I'll get right on that.


So it is allowed? Can it be the same hot water heater you use for your other hot water needs? Or required to be a seperate system?

[bjstare]

I'll get right on that.


So it is allowed? Can it be the same hot water heater you use for your other hot water needs? Or required to be a seperate system?

That’s not how it works. There’s a heat exchanger that sits in your oversized hot water tank. Floor water and shower water are two separate circuits.