I wouldn’t… we had a hot water radiant heat system put in our master bathroom when the house was built. The house has a regular forced air furnace, but we wanted some extra warmth in the bathroom since it is over the garage and has a marble floor. In the first five years, we had no less than 20 visits by the HVAC company that put it in. We could never get it to work properly, the company even replaced the boiler, but it never worked for more than a week or so before it completely shut down. I am so grateful we didn’t have the system throughout the house. I know several people that have radiant heating and no one else had the same problem as we did, but I wouldn’t buy a house that relied on radiant heat due to my personal experience!
Yes, too much regional difference for us to be of help. I think I’d ask a local Realtor for opinions about whether it makes a difference and comps to back it up.
Realtors are of no help and neither are builders for obvious reasons. Because buyers here tend to be mostly people moving from other states, regional differences do play a role in their preferences. Very helpful to see some strong opinions against the idea.
I lived in a slab on a hill in the mid-Atlantic area. That lower level felt harder on your feet, even with good carpeting, and we couldn’t put the high quality hardwood down when we re floored one room. It was more like a hardwood/plywood that can be only refinished 5 times.
Does having radiant heat in your slab narrow down your flooring options? I would imagine that wood wouldn’t like the expansion and contraction.
H and I love radiant heated floors. We would not say no to such a house. That said, I would be worried about
the age of the pipes and any future repairs. In a newer house, not so much.
I agree that the rooms/s could take longer to heat and longer to cool. We were traveling and had a hotel
room with such floors and I was not happy that the room took 2-3 hours to really get cozy (also annoyed the
the hotel had not turned the heat on). That would be my main concern.
Also–then how does the AC work? No way would I buy a house without AC.
I know, and have friends in Seattle without AC, that many houses do not have it.
I couldn’t live without it and have had a number of miserable visits at their home in past summers.
No AC would be my deal breaker.
That’s a good question. I have wood floors, but I know nothing about them. They don’t seem to react to the floor heating at all, though.
It certainly does. Carpeting is usually not recommended, which is not a problem for ground floors. Not all wood can be used either.
Oregon, good to know about AC. The newcomers to the area are usually shocked that most homes around here don’t have it. A heat pump system can provide enough cooling and heating most of the time in my neck of the woods.
https://www.washingtonenergy.com/idea-center/ac-vs-heat-pump-battle-cooling/
I asked our builder (10+ years ago) about putting radiant heat in just the bathrooms and how much extra it might cost , he looked at me like I was crazy and said we don’t do that in central TX! Still some mornings I think it would have been nice (not to replace heating just as an extra option).
Do moisture seep in if the foundation sits directly on the ground? That is my main concern.
If the foundation is built correctly moisture shouldn’t be a problem it rests on a layer of gravel, a vapor barrier and a a couple of inches of rigid insulation.
I am sure it would all be perfect with the right contractor and sub-contractors. Unfortunately I haven’t found those guys yet in my neck of the woods.
Just finished third major house renovation. Building new is probably easier and better, but still if you can’t do it yourself…
The radiant heat would probably keep me from buying the house. My first thought is having to tear up the floors to repair it. I do like it when I visit others. Our young neighbors just installed it and love it.
I grew up in a new neighborhood where all the houses were built on slabs. Cracking wasn’t uncommon, and then owners replaced the fashionable terrazzo floors with carpet.
Here are my feelings about it-
- I'd be ok with the radiant heat that does not rely on the tubes of water that are snaked on a substrate that is then covered in cement. That is just asking for trouble if the house settles or the tubes decay or get blocked.
- I wouldn't pay more for a house with electric radiant heating in the floor. Like a pool, I'd consider it a neutral.
- If floor-based radiant heat were the only heating source in the house it'd be an immediate deal breaker for me. It does not heat up the air fast enough.
- Electric heat pumps don't work that well when there is more than a 20+ degree difference between the outside air and the inside air. We have one in the basement level here in Atlanta, and when the temp dips below freezing we have to set the thermostat to the "emergency" setting to keep the heat pump functioning. Do some research on this.
- If I were going to build a house (and I might!), I'd do zoned gas high efficiency HVAC on each level (like this house has now on the two main levels), and in-floor radiant heating in the master bathroom, including the shower stall.
This is our sixth house, and the high eff zoned gas is by far the quietest and most comfortable we’ve ever enjoyed. Plus when the girls are gone for the summer I set the upstairs to 80 degrees, and that saves us a lot of money (the master is on the main).
I have no issues with slab houses. This one is on a full finished daylight basement, but we purchased that with an eye towards resale vs. really wanting a basement. Houses on crawl spaces (I call them creepy crawly spaces) are an absolute no for me, both for resale and for personal preference.
Our next house is going to be on stilts, fwiw. 
I’d say my house is natually zoned. With little insulation, upstairs is always hot in summer and cold in winter 
Our house does have a full basement. The radiant heat is in the basement slab. Since it’s a daylight basement with several windows, it’s a nice space for an extra bedroom. Right now we use it for our pool table.
OP, are you concerned about the slab or the radiant heat? Slab is regional- if most houses in the area are slab, and so is yours, then slab is OK.
My opinion on radiant heat is that I’ve heard it is excellent. Since you don’t live in Alaska (Seattle is cool/cold but temperate, it’s probable a great option (just leave it at a consistent temp). Again, is it common in your area? It would not be a deal breaker for me as a buyer, it would be neutral.
Our Park City, Utah home has infloor, natural gas radiant heat throughout, including in the basement. We built the house 20 years ago and we’ve had no problems with it. I don’t see any downside. It’s very comfortable and we particularly like that there’s never any temperature variation. I don’t understand the objection that it takes a while to adjust the temperature in the house; we keep the house at a constant temperature in the heating season. We have carpet and tile floors and it works equally well with either. Many of our neighbors also have radiant heat and everyone has carpeting. I’ve never heard that this is not recommended.
The only problem was when the Chinese propagated hoax of global warming turned out to be real and the summer heat was getting unbearable and we didn’t have duct work to accommodate air conditioning. Then we retrofitted a high velocity AC system for the upper area, and left the basement alone. That’s worked out well.
I like the idea of infloor radiant down and mini split up, but I’d also recommend you look into infloor throughout with high velocity AC up. I think this would be more comfortable, but also more expensive to install.
Incidentally, @BunsenBurner, DW and I are in the process of relocating to your neck of the woods and now spend most of our time on Camano Island.
Camano Island is beautiful! Enjoy, @Sherpa.
Thanks, all! Appreciate the feedback.
@sherpa wrote
You haven’t met my husband, who likes to turn the thermostat 5-10 degrees colder than I can tolerate. We have endless battles over the thermostat. If I had to wait an hour for the house to warm up, I’d be really, really cranky.
Bunsen, I think @Youdon’tsay is right: asking on a national forum of nonexperts isn’t the best way to gauge. Talk to a realtor in your area, talk to an architect or a contractor. Besides being a regional thing, this can also be a generational preference. Millennials, your future potential buyers, are much more environmentally aware and may not be put off by an efficient technology once used in cheaper construction. They may also not care about a basement.
“Talk to a realtor in your area, talk to an architect or a contractor.”
Done that, thanks, @katliamom. I am discounting some of their opinions because they have a vested interest. As I already mentioned, from the responses I am getting a good idea as to what kind of negative reactions potential out of state buyers might have… Most buyers of the property we are thinking of will be mover up, downsizer, out of state kind of buyers.