I had the same question back in May when we first demo'd our masterbath and received some good advice. Here's a link to the thread:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bath/msg0521093218702.html

We ultimately ordered a custom mat from Nuheat because that is what our tilesetter, tile supplier and plumbing supplier all recommended. In fact, my plumbing supplier put me in touch with the Nuheat area rep who came out and took all of the measurements. He suggested heating the step leading up to our tub... something I hadn't even thought of!

I just picked it up today so I can't report yet on the installation or use but I'm sure I'll love having warm toes this winter!

We just put in nuheat as well (we're in the sf bay area), and we also put a square of the mat under the cast iron tub to keep it toasty. We haven't turned it on yet, but should know how it works in the next week or two. We actually closed off the vent in that bathroom so it had better work well!

Not installed yet but we are going with Warmly Yours. We sent them the dimensions and drawing via email and they sent
email back with the exact layout of the mats for our bath. There are many angles and this was an incredible help in figuring everything out. I can't wait till its done! Upstate NY is very cold for about 6 months of the year. Toasty toes next month!

I have not redone my baths but did redo my entryway and put in heat under the tiles. I LOVE it. I plan to do the same in our master bath when we can afford to redo that. I turn the floor on and it takes the chill out of the house in the Fall. I live in MN so I can't tell you how much we LOVE our heated tile floor.

I am fascinated by the idea of putting it under a tub. I've heard of putting it in the shower floor as well as the rest of the bathroom but never under a tub. I hope to hear how that goes.

I'm with tkatoo. Contact warmly yours and send them your dimensions. They'll do your plans for you.

Love my heated tile flooring!

heated floors is a subject that comes up regularly.

Sometimes it's in the Flooring forum. Or the Remodeling Forum. Or the HVAC forum (because it's related to heated forced air). Or the Electrical Wiring forum (because it's an electrical cable). Or the Plumbing Forum (because then it's a hydronic system). Sometimes it's in the Kitchens Forum. Sometimes it's in the House Building Forum. I think I've seen a question about it in the Appliances Forum too.

If anyone is interested to group all these threads into a single list we can all refer to, I'll be glad to help out.

Davidro1, is this what you mean?

Here is a link that might be useful: gw search for

We put a Danfoss heating system under the tile in our master bath. It was not the pre-made mats, but rather required the tile setter to string the wires 4" apart back and forth with anchors. Ours had some spacing problems and we wound up with too much in one area and not enough in others. Bottom line is that we LOVE it, though when we do this again will know what to watch out for to avoid some cold spots.

Be sure that it is placed under the toe space on your cabinets. Be aware that the heat does not spread out laterally very much from the wire placement. It would probably be better to have a pre-made grid for more even placement. We love the programmable thermostat. Minimal cost for so much enjoyment.

We have put a hydronic heating system throughout the downstairs and in the upstairs master suite. It's a system of pipes laid in a concrete-like material that serves as mass. Tile has been laid in entry, kitchen and bathrooms. Hardwood floors have not yet been installed.

We've had a small taste of it, set at 65F, with the floor tiles no longer freezing cold and the air in the rooms a comfortable temperature. Air is a lot less dry. There are no noisy fans going on and off, no temperature fluctations, no blowing air. My home feels a lot more calm.

Not sure what the minimum area is that you would want to use this system for as it involves pretty major plumbing.

This is a mountain home, not yet our fulltime residence. To prevent pipes from freezing we always keep the heat at 55F. In the past the whole house has felt cold for hours after we arrive until the walls and furniture warm up. Now, we will be able to phone ahead in the morning to bump up the heat so it's nicely warm when we arrive.

During a power outage we will now have residual heat in the floor mass whereas we used to have no heat at all from the forced air system--sometimes up to three days. We're adding a generator that will be able to run the hydronics and some other basic needs during those occasional icy cold powerless days.

A neighbor has a different system of pipes laid in a wooden frame in the floor. Because it has no concrete mass it doesn't radiate heat as smoothly and sometimes the floor is too hot for bare feet.

Our system has a "boiler" that hangs on the wall, like an on-demand tankless water heater. It heats both hot water for the house, stored in an 80 gallon tank, and the separate sealed system of pipes in the floor. It makes just a slight hum when heating.

Just another option.

this is the best description I've seen on this forum. HTH:

Here is a link that might be useful: heated floors101

Thought I'd add in some of my favorite blogs to follow in the convo - I'm definitely considering doing this in my bathroom reno - and I too appreciate all of the advice you all have provided here!

http://diydiva.net/2011/05/tile-101-how-to-install-suntouch-warmwire-radiant-floor-heat/

Here is a link that might be useful: DIYDiva Heated Floors 101

We just purchased a heated floor system for our kids' bathroom from Warming Systems, Inc. It was by far the least expensive system we found. (It costs less to order through Amazon than from the company directly.) We ordered a 30 square foot cable system for $189 including the programmable thermostat. I hasn't arrived yet.

We received a quote for over $700 from Suntouch floors. That was way out of our price range. Some people on this forum reported that they were happy with their Warming Systems floor heating so it seemed like a great choice. The lower price also helped persuade my hubby to go for it:) (He had objected to the heated floor because he thought it was a waste of money.)

We don't live in an extremely cold climate (high desert of southern California.) However, it snows occasionally and usually freezes during the night in winter.