Warm Kitchen, Happy Feet

by Gabby Hyman
Face Your Kitchen Columnist

If the cost of your planned kitchen remodeling effort hasn't given you cold feet, the icy kitchen floors of winter mornings certainly might. Imagine chucking out your floppy slippers for the last time and walking, barefoot, onto a warm kitchen floor next December. Ask your kitchen contractor to cost out the installation of an electric or hydronic radiant-heat system beneath the floor as part of your overall remodeling project. There are two major types of floor heating systems to choose from during a kitchen remodeling or retrofit. If you're just remodeling the kitchen, then an electric underfoot system might be the most cost-effective solution. But if you're looking at heating several rooms on the ground floor, a hydronic radiant system will handle the job nicely. Let's look at both alternatives.

Kitchen Floor Remodeling and Heating Systems

If you have a skilled kitchen contractor, ask about both solutions; if not, make some calls to resellers. With the electric-type heating systems, contractors install a webbed mat of wires under your kitchen floor. The system should cost less than $1,500 and is controlled by an independent thermostat that should keep daily costs well under 40 cents. The system is safe and efficient.

The hydronic-type system circulates hot water though pipes that you've installed beneath the kitchen floor during your remodeling project. The water is heated in a closed-loop network with a dedicated boiler that allows you to set floor temperatures for each room in the system. It's a costlier installation, and you can expect to spend at least $5,000 on one. On the plus side, the boiler can be set up to run on any fuel source, including solar, gas, oil, or electric.

You may wince at the prices -- at first. But imagine going for milk and cookies throughout the winter and sliding into something comfortable: like your kitchen.

About the Author
Gabby Hyman has written for print and online media for more than 20 years. He has created online content for eToys, GoTo.com, Siebel Systems, Avaya, and Nissan UK. He has also been a web consultant to the Governor of California. As an author of fiction, journalism, and poetry, Gabby is a former English professor for the University of Illinois, University of Alaska, and Old Dominion University. He holds an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Alabama.