Radiant Floor Heating Transforms A Cold Chicago Basement (With a Laminate Heated Floor)

This suburban Chicago basement was uncomfortably cold with inadequate heating vents providing little control over the room temperature. Resting on a cold concrete slab, the basement became an unused, unliveable room in the house. The homeowner, Heidi, decided to take matters into her own hands and turn the room into a liveable space for the whole family to enjoy time together.
To accomplish this, she installed an Environ II radiant floor heating system under her new free-floating laminate floor. When asked how she first learned about floor heating, Heidi responded “I lived in Germany where most houses have radiant floor heating, so I know all about warm floors.”


Before the flooring contractor installed the laminate wood, Heidi’s husband, Terry, first covered the entire basement floor with a layer of cork insulation . Then he laid out the Environ II radiant floor heating system right over it, all in one day! “Because the concrete slab acts as a heat sink, WarmlyYours recommended we install cork to maximize energy efficiency.” Terry added “Putting in the warm floor was much easier than I thought.”

Another important benefit that radiant floor heating adds to the basement is the reduction of moisture and mold. These moist conditions can trigger allergies and asthma. According to the American Society of Home Inspectors, “About 38% of homes have mold and fungus growth due to elevated moisture.” The drying effects of radiant floor heating reduce the moisture substantially creating a much healthier environment.


Once the Environ II system was operational and bringing supplemental warmth to the home heating system, the basement actually became too warm. Heidi says she plans to close most of the vents and simply let the radiant floor warming system do most of the work to keep the room nice and comfortable. As Heidi noted “Our kids are always running around barefoot in the basement now, it feels so much nicer.”

For more information about free-floating laminate or engineered wood floor heating, please visit:
http://www.warmlyyours.com/products/floor-heating/carpet-and-laminate/