Heated tiles for PPOR

[laurencei]

Hey guys,

Does anyone have any experience/thoughts on heated tiles for PPOR? We are about to build a new 5 bedroom house. Besides the bedrooms, the rest of the house will be tiled.

It's been suggested (by some of my family) to put in heated tiles, as the tiles might get really cold in winter. Personally I don't *think* it will bother me - but the problem is I don't know for sure, and I can't change my mind later.

I've got a rough quote of $11k to add heating to the tiles. This is on top of the $14k I'm about to spend to tile the place...

Happy to hear if people who have experience in this believe it is worth it or not...

 

[lizzie]

I want an idea on running costs ... some people with them say it's expensive - others say it's cheaper than running a heater/aircon.

I guess it depends on what temperature you have the heating set to (ie, 15 degrees rather than 20) and what the base is, as concrete would absorb the heat and stay warm, whereas chipboard wouldn't.

 

[Ausprop]

they say all this eletromagnetic energy is making us sick

 

[laurencei]

It will be a concrete slab underneath. I googled the running costs - and the costs would be about $150pm (when used). This would be offset by not using the ducted heating system some of the time...

 

[outoftown]

Hi, I'm living in Norway at the moment (-20 degree winters) and underfloor heating is brilliant. Nothing worse than stepping on cold bathroom tiles first thing in the morning. They are great for for drying umbrellas and shoes in your entrance way too. Thoroughly recommend it and probably no more expensive than running a split system either.

Cheers Matt.

 

[outoftown]

Another thing, 11k additional to install sounds crazy. Basically they just lay the warmer and cable in an S pattern, add a circuit and then apply the tile adhesive and tile as normal. Sounds like they have never done it before.

 

[BV]

laurence
It is a nice feature if you can afford it.
The installation cost seems a bit high, have you got oher quotes?

 

[Ms Jade]

If they are putting the pipes through the slab it will cost a bomb to run & takes ages to heat up, as it basically heats the whole slab. We have friends with it in their back room approx. 30 sqm. After getting a $1200 qtrly electricity bill they turned it off. Now, it may well be that there are different options for in-slab that would have different costs but I haven't done the research.

What we did was put a 1mm heating element between the slab & the tiles. It will cost you a lot less than $11k. We used Speedheat but Beaumont also have a type of this now. Check out the website for running costs. I think it's worth it & am very glad I went ahead (now that it's winter!). Our tiles are not super cold because they are natural stone which never feel as bad underfoot to me. If you are going ceramic & porcelain I would encourage you even more to go for this option.

 

[lizzie]

The speedheat site was really good - watch the 2nd video down as explains the different methods and why what works where.

Another one that I saw, and really like the concept of, is running in slab pipes down into deep holes in the ground (often foundation holes) to use the steady subearth temperature to warm in winter and cool in summer. No electricity or pumps required - just works on warming and cooling gas moving around.

My cousin in NZ has a combustion fireplace which is pretty constantly on during winter (very good insulation too). On the back of the fireplace he has two systems - one a wetback for the hot water and another run of water filled copper pipes that goes first into the boot room to dry wet clothes, then out under the slab floor in the very large open plan living/dining/kitchen, then thru onto the bathroom wall to act as a heated towel rail before returning to the fire for reheating.

I love it!

 

[Ausprop]

Hi, I'm living in Norway at the moment (-20 degree winters) and underfloor heating is brilliant. Nothing worse than stepping on cold bathroom tiles first thing in the morning. They are great for for drying umbrellas and shoes in your entrance way too. Thoroughly recommend it and probably no more expensive than running a split system either.

Cheers Matt.

yes but their power costs stuff all there because it's all hydro. nice country that one.

 

[Doovalacky]

Make sure you look into the lifespan of the product your going with.
Not exactly easy to repair if it fails.

 

[outoftown]

yes but their power costs stuff all there because it's all hydro. nice country that one.

There power is actualy more than double the price even with hydro. A glass of beer is about $13 and a 6 pack from the shops about $35. We tip the state big time every time we open our wallet over here. Enough to drive a man to drink.
Great place though, I must agree.
Cheers Matt.

 

[maza]

I didnt want to start thread, but do people know any other businesses that does under tile heating?

I was thinking of putting them in, but i heard there best used for concrete slabs, and not good for floor boards, and i dont think im going to wait minimum 30 min for the floors to heat up.