Radiant floor heat
Enjoy cozy rooms—even in your bare feet
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Radiant floor heating makes the elegant ceramic tile, marble, or natural stone floor in your bathroom, kitchen, or entryway inviting. Some types of radiant floor heat are even designed to work under floating wood floors or jute-backed carpet. |
How radiant floor heat works
Electrical resistance cables are spaced evenly and enclosed in a durable fabric. The type of fabric depends on the brand. Some use heating mats, mortar, or continuous-roll heating sheets. Your flooring installer puts these mats, cables, or sheets in place. An electrician hooks up the controls, which can be attached to a programmable thermostat.
Benefits
Most radiant floor heat products offer:
- Individual room temperature control.
- Silent, inconspicuous operation.
- Comfortable even heat distribution.
- No vents to block furniture placement.
- No filters to clean or change.
- 100% energy efficiency.
- Easy installation.
Features
Most radiant floor heat products:
- Are designed to warm the floor to between 84° F and 88° F.
- Usually alter the elevation of the floor less than 1/8 inch.
- Warm the floor quickly because elements are close to the surface.
- Are available in a variety of sizes.
- Use 10 to 15 watts per square foot and 110/120 volts.
- Are available with a full range of controls.
Estimated cost of operation
Cost of operation is based on room size, installed wattage per square foot, hours of operation each day, and cost per kilowatt-hour of electricity.
Example: Assume the floor heat is used for 10 hours a day for 30 days in a 30-square-foot bathroom and that the product is installed at 12 watts per square foot. This bathroom will use 360 watts, or .36 kilowatts per hour, and 3.6 kilowatt-hours if it is run 10 hours a day. That is 108 kilowatt-hours for 30 days. At 5.37 cents per kilowatt-hour the cost of operation would be $5.80 a month.
How it works with our electric service rates
Radiant floor heat can be applied to general service electric rates, or if qualified, may be installed as part of a dual fuel, deferred load, or RDC system.
If installed under one of our off-peak rates, you may incur additional costs for meter socket, wiring, and/or an RDC unit. For small installations of one or two rooms, our general service rate may be the most cost effective and will provide the most flexible use of the system.
Rates mentioned in web material subject to change On October 1, 2007, Otter Tail Power Company submitted a proposal to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) to increase base rates for electric service in Minnesota for the first time since 1986. On November 27, 2007, the MPUC approved our request to increase rates by approximately 5.4 percent—over what customers paid in 2006, including the cost-of-energy adjustment—on an interim, or temporary, basis beginning November 30, 2007. The proposed interim rate increase will remain in effect until the MPUC decides the case in August 2008. Information reported on this web site does not reflect interim or final rate increases. We will update all rate information after the MPUC makes its final decision. |
