26 Dec Top FAQs About Heated Floors, Insulated Doors and Windows, Answered
There’s nothing like heated floors, insulated doors, and windows to make a home comfortable. Winter brings the big chill to the Quad Cities, and homeowners often struggle to keep their homes warm and cozy. Inefficiently insulated windows and doors, due to age and deterioration, are usually the reason that heat escapes homes and colder air seeps in.
Conquer winter’s chilly temperatures and keep your home at its most comfortable with heated floors, insulated doors, and windows. Not only will your family and guests appreciate the comfort, but your budget will also. When you upgrade to new insulated doors and windows, you can save as much as 30% on your heating and cooling costs each month. And your resale value increases with heated floors, insulated doors, and windows.
With any investment in your home, you need to perform your due diligence. We don’t expect you to jump into a project like adding heated floors, insulated doors, and windows without asking questions. Here we answer the top six FAQs so you can better understand how these popular upgrades can add to your family’s comfort and enhance energy efficiency.
Top FAQs You Want Answered About Heated Floors, Insulated Doors, and Windows
With any investment in your home, you need to perform your due diligence. We don’t expect you to jump into a project like adding heated floors, insulated doors, and windows without asking questions. Here we answer the top six FAQs so you can better understand how these popular upgrades can add to your family’s comfort and enhance energy efficiency.
Heated Floors
Heated floors in homes throughout the Quad Cities were once considered a luxury. Today, heated floors are very affordable and more and more homeowners consider them a necessity, especially on a cold winter morning. They support your HVAC system and enhance the comfort level in any room. Here are the most common FAQs about heated floors.
Q: How do Heated Floors Promote Energy Savings Compared to Traditional Heating Alone?
A: Through the use of radiant heat technology, heated floors heat from below. The typical forced-air HVAC heating system blows heated air through the vents in each area of your home. This creates uneven temperatures and drafty pockets, which lead to inefficient use of energy.
Heated floors use tube heating embedded beneath the surface, which warms the room and its occupants by radiating heat from the ground up. Heat rises, so by starting at the floor, less heat is lost.
Q: Can I install a heated floor system beneath any type of flooring?
A: You can install a heated floor system beneath all types of flooring, including laminate, engineered wood, carpet, and LVP, but solid surfaces like tile and stone are considered the best for maintaining consistent temperatures. Some flooring may require a specialized system or professional installation.
Q: Does a heated floor take a long time to warm up?
A: Of course, the time it takes for your floor to heat depends on the kind of system you install and the type of flooring you have in your home. Floors in concrete slab homes may take significantly longer to reach a comfortable temperature, from several hours to a full day.
Insulated Doors and Windows
Depending on the initial quality of your doors and windows, you should evaluate their performance at about the ten-year mark. This is when performance peaks, and it’s downhill from there. You’ll notice signs of degradation, and energy savings become virtually nonexistent. That’s when you know the time has come to upgrade your insulated doors and windows.
Q: Are insulated doors and windows only useful in very high or low temperatures?
A: Not at all. Insulated doors and windows provide benefits and comfort no matter the temperature. When the weather is cold, your insulated doors and windows prevent heat loss, and when the weather turns sunny and warmer, a special coating (low-E) prevents heating from the sun, and also keeps the cool air inside your Quad Cities home. Additional benefits include noise reduction and UV protection, which keep the window treatments, floors, and furniture from fading due to UV exposure.
Q: How do I know my existing doors and windows aren’t energy efficient?
A: Both doors and windows lose insulation as they age. You can tell when insulation is lost simply by feeling the areas around the insulated doors and windows for drafts or temperature changes. Other signs they are not energy efficient include visible condensation, more noise than usual from outside, and fog between the glass in your windows.
Q: Does sealing my old doors and windows help?
A: It’s best to simply replace your old doors and windows with new insulated doors and windows. While weather stripping and caulking may help in the short run as a low-cost “bandaid”, you’re still losing heat and cool air due to the lack of insulation within your windows and doors. Upgrading to insulated doors and windows with a high energy rating means significant utility bill reductions, so along with your heated floors, insulated doors and windows begin paying for themselves immediately.
We Value Your Comfort
At Seiffert Building Supplies, we value the comfort of your home throughout the year. Contact us about heated floors, insulated windows and doors, and all of your home improvement needs.
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