Radiant Floor Heating For Your Basement

Most homeowners are always on the lookout for ways to improve their homes for their sake and the sake of their home’s value should they consider reselling it. One of the spaces in the home that you can renovate is the basement. The basement is an often overlooked part of the house, one usually used for storage and neglected for the most part. The good news is that you can indeed turn your basement into a comfortable living space, and perhaps one that most members of your household will prefer to hang out in compared to the rest of the house. How do you do this?

Basement Floor Heating Toronto

First of all, you address the problem facing almost all basements-the cold temperatures that are characteristic of most basements. Basements are cold and damp. It’s a fact. But they don’t have to be that way. With radiant heating, you can turn your basement into a warm and cozy living space. In-floor radiant basement heating is based on the fact that it makes more sense economically and otherwise to maintain temperatures as they are as compared to raising them.

The radiant heating you would get for your basement comprises of two components: the first is the network of tubing around which the concrete slab is poured. The second component is the hydronic pump which forces warm liquid through the tubing, and thus heating up the basement floor as required.

Installing Floor Heating Systems

The best way to install floor heating in your basement is to have it done when you are installing a new floor. This way, the heating can be a part of the basement right from the start. However, if you already have an existing floor and wish to retrofit it with heating, you still can. Option number one involves removing the floor, compacting the rubble, covering it with a layer of sand and finally casting fresh floor with an integrated heating system. Your second option is to install the radiant heating system above your existing floor and then cover that with a false floor. The problem with this second option is that it is not integrated within your floor and is therefore less energy-effective when compared to the integral heating options.

Floor Heating Systems Options Available In Canada

There are several options as far as the energy sources you can use to heat the liquid and power the circulation pump. Coal, electricity, natural gas, solar energy and wood are just a few of what you can use for your heated basement floors.

It is important to note that basement radiant heating is not used to dry out floors that have gotten flooded or damp over time. Rather, it is a measure you undertake to prevent loss of heat from your basement floors.

And in case you are not convinced that you need to heat your basement floors, here are the benefits you stand to gain:

• Installing and operating heating in your basement floors is economical and will not cause huge dents in your bank account
• Heated floors in your basement are environmentally friendly as there are no emissions and you can use renewable energy
• Since you integrate the heating in your floor’s structure, you will not lose any headroom or storage space