Stay Warm All Winter Long
Heated floors are a great way to keep your home warm during cold Canadian winters. Instead of blowing hot air around like regular heating systems, heated floors warm up from the ground and spread heat evenly throughout your room.
When you combine heated floors with a tankless water heater, you get a system that saves energy and keeps you comfortable all winter long (sources: HomeStars and Enercare).
Two Main Types of Heated Floors
There are two ways to heat your floors: water-based systems and electric systems.
- Water-based systems (called hydronic) pump hot water through special tubes under your floor. These work great for heating your whole house.
- Electric systems use heating wires or mats under the floor and are perfect for smaller rooms like bathrooms and kitchens. Water-based systems work better in cold climates, while electric systems are easier to install in just one room(source: Heating Ontario and Build It by Design).
How Heated Floors Warm Your Home
Heated floors work by turning your entire floor into one big heater. The heat starts at the floor and rises up naturally, warming everything in the room evenly. This means you won’t have cold spots in corners or feel drafts like you do with regular heating systems that blow air around. It’s also much quieter since there are no fans or blowers making noise, and it doesn’t blow dust around your home like forced air systems do.
The warmth spreads naturally throughout the room, heating you and your furniture directly instead of just heating the air. This makes you feel more comfortable even when the air temperature is a bit lower, which can help you save money on your heating bills. Reed’s Heating & Cooling explains more about these comfort benefits (source: Reeds Heating).
Why Tankless Water Heaters Work So Well
Tankless water heaters are perfect for water-based heated floors because they heat water only when you need it. This saves energy because you’re not keeping a big tank of water hot all day long.
They also take up less space and can heat different rooms to different temperatures. This combination works really well for Canadian homes (source: Enercare and WarmlyYours).
What You Need for a Complete System
A complete heated floor system with a tankless water heater has several important parts that all work together to keep your home warm. Think of it like a team where each part has a specific job to do.
The tankless water heater is the most important part – it’s like the captain of the team. It heats up water whenever you need it and sends that hot water through special tubes under your floors. Next, you have a manifold, which is basically a control box that acts like a traffic cop. It decides which rooms get hot water and when, so you can make your bedroom warmer than your kitchen if you want.
Circulator pumps are like the heart of the system – they keep the hot water moving through all the tubes under your floors. Without these pumps, the water would just sit there and get cold. Mixing valves are really important safety parts that make sure the water isn’t too hot. They protect your floors from getting damaged and make sure the temperature is comfortable for your feet.
Every room gets its own thermostat, just like a regular heating system, so you can control how warm each area gets. Zone valves work with these thermostats to turn the water flow on and off in different rooms. Finally, there are several safety parts that keep everything working properly and prevent problems (source: Ecohome and Nuheat).
Installing Heated Floors: New Homes vs. Existing Homes
It’s easiest and cheapest to install heated floors when building a new home. The heating tubes can be put right into the concrete floor or under the wooden floor before everything is finished. If you want to add heated floors to an existing home, it’s still possible but takes more work.
You might need to add a thin layer over your current floor or install the system underneath. Tile and stone floors work best with heated floors, but hardwood and some other materials can work too (source: Build It by Design, WarmlyYours and Nuheat).
How Much Energy and Money You Can Save
Heated floors can help you save money on heating bills because they heat your home more efficiently. You can feel comfortable at lower temperatures, and you don’t lose heat through air ducts like regular systems. They work especially well with modern tankless water heaters. Canadian Home Trends.
Why Professional Installation Is Important
Getting heated floors installed correctly is really important. The installer needs to figure out how much heat your home needs, choose the right size tankless water heater, space the heating tubes properly, and make sure everything is well insulated.
When done right, you get quiet, clean heat that costs less to run. At Tankless Experts Inc., we serve Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington, and Hamilton. Our technicians are trained on different kinds of equipment and know how to make tankless water heaters work perfectly with heated floors.
Things to Consider Before You Get A Heated Floor
The Good Things About Heated Floors
Heated floors are super comfortable, completely quiet, and let you control the temperature in different rooms. When you walk on heated floors, especially on cold winter mornings, your feet stay warm and cozy. This comfort spreads throughout your whole body, making you feel warmer even when the air temperature is a few degrees lower than normal.
Unlike regular heating systems that use noisy fans and blowers, heated floors are completely silent. You’ll never hear them turn on or off, which means no more being woken up by your heating system in the middle of the night. This quiet operation makes your home more peaceful and relaxing.
Another great benefit is zone control – you can set different temperatures in different rooms. Maybe you want your bathroom extra warm in the morning, but you prefer your bedroom cooler for sleeping. With heated floors, each room can have its own thermostat, so everyone in your family can be comfortable.
Heated floors also don’t blow dust, pet hair, or allergens around your home like forced air systems do. This makes the air cleaner and healthier, especially for people with allergies or asthma. The heat distribution is also more even, so you won’t have hot and cold spots throughout your rooms (sources: Enercare; Reed’s Heating & Cooling; Ecohome; HomeStars).
Some Cons about Heated Floors
Heated floors cost more to install than regular heating, can be complicated to add to existing homes, and take a little longer to warm up or cool down. The upfront cost is usually much higher because you need special equipment, professional installation, and sometimes you have to change your flooring. If you’re trying to add heated floors to a house that’s already built, it can be really difficult and expensive since workers might need to rip up your existing floors.
Another problem is that heated floors don’t heat up or cool down as fast as regular heating systems. If you suddenly want your room warmer, you might have to wait 30 minutes to an hour to actually feel the difference. This means you need to think ahead and can’t make quick temperature changes like you can with regular heating that blows hot air. Some people also find that if something breaks with the system under their floors, it can be harder and more expensive to fix than regular heating systems (sources: Build It by Design; Ecohome).
Heated Floors Common Question
Many people wonder if one tankless water heater can provide both hot water for showers and heated floors.
The answer is yes, but it needs to be set up correctly with special controls and piping. Another common question is whether electric heated floors can heat your whole house. Usually, electric systems work best for just one or two rooms, while water-based systems are better for whole homes (sources: Ecohome; Nuheat; WarmlyYours; Heating Ontario).
Time, Cost, and Taking Care of Your Heated Floor System
New homes can have heated floors installed as part of the building process. Adding them to existing homes can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, depending on how much work is needed.
You’ll need to maintain your system by cleaning the tankless water heater regularly and checking that the pumps and controls are working properly (sources: Canadian Home Trends; Enercare).
Ready to Get Started?
If you live in the Toronto area and want professional installation and service, contact Tankless Experts Inc. We’re certified specialists who can design, install, and maintain the perfect heated floor system for your home.