Why? heated floor are a little more efficient in heating and for some are a little more comfortable, but from my experience they are also slow to react so it's harder to control the temperature when the weather changes daily for example in the spring or automn.
They’re much more efficient (and comfortable imo) than other systems. You’ll see pretty big costs savings. But yes, you need to be in a climate that sees long, cold winters to get the best of them I guess. Or if your home has lots of tile/stone/concrete flooring.
You’re right though, they take awhile to heat up and if you’re in a place where you may need heat at night and AC in the day, they won’t be ideal.
Pretty big costs savings compared to what? if you compare radiators to floor heating, both connected to the same heat pump system than the savings are not significant
It's because of efficiency. The entire floor becomes a radiant source - this is a massive thermal source. A heat-pump is only part of the equation. You need to deliver the heat still. A radiator is generally a bad way to deliver heat from a heat pump. Radiated floors are much better. About 40% more efficient than radiators from the same heat pump.
Not to mention radiators are sort of lousy ways to heat a room anyways. They take up space and leave one side too hot and the other too cold.
It will certainly cost more, especially since you can’t share the venting and blower. But I’d get it quoted to compare. Electric systems have really come down in price per SqFt. Now your climate doesn’t get month after month of freezing temperatures so maybe it won’t be as dramatic but the energy cost savings can be huge. Plus the overall experience of it is the best imo.
You could still circulate air with the blower running in fan mode and you may not need humidifiers as that’s the biggest negative to forced air heat imo.
Curious which humidifier systems you’re looking at?
I got it quoted. Basically would be around $50k CAN for heated floors (it's a big house). Ducted mini split heat pump (2 units to handle the house size) was $60k. Central hybrid gas-heat pump was $30k.
I put in heated electric floors in the bathrooms (about $1k each).
It's not a bad compromise for our climate. Currently living in a home I designed that has mini splits everywhere and I really dont like them. Not enough air circulation and it's really hard to balance given a well insulated house on mildly cool days which is very common here.
I intend to always keep the fan going to circulate the air in order to clean (we have allergies) and humidify.