I'm curious as to why you want to heat an eating surface?

A couple of months ago there was an article about it in Fine Homebuilding magazine. There was a thread that at least started out talking about it. Perhaps if you can get a copy of it from the library (or online) it might have information on how it's installed.

(Thanks to Pharaoh for seeing the article back in October)

There was a thread about it...but it was a humorous thread, not a serious one about it and it strayed fairly quickly. Although someone did bring up the question about what happens to the butter or milk sitting on the counter..I once put a dish of butter on top of the TV (that was turned off) in the kitchen to keep it out of reach of the dogs while I was busy elsewhere and when I returned the butter had begun to melt and was sitting in a small pool of melted butter...I wasn't gone all that long.

It would nice in the winter though, especially if you keep your house cool (yikes the price of oil!). Do you live in the north? I can see why you might want them!

There is an article called "Great Ideas" in Fine Homebuilders Kitchens & Bath's Annual Issue Winter 2007 that I have that shows how a radiant-heat mat was installed under the granite on an island. It is controlled by a thermostat hidden on the side with a sensor embedded too. It seems pretty neat : )
If you want more info, just pick it a copy (very worth it) or let me know and I'll read it again for some pointers.
HTH

I did not implement it but I gave it a lot of thought. Warmly Yours has electric mats that can be used to heat the counter (as per email exchange with them a couple of years ago). I was going to attach the mats with spots of glue, insulate with foil faced polyisocyanurate (3/4", I think) and cover it with 1/4" cabinet skin trimmed with a small molding purchased from my cabinet manufacturer. I don't see why it would not work.

I was planning to install it on my island only and have a switch inside my prep sink base to turn it on/off to avoid the melted butter problem while having it comfortable for eating.

Be aware that you will not be able to restrict the heat to the eating area only since the stone will conduct the heat to areas that are not in direct contact with the mat - unless it's a bilevel island.

My island is not for eating (just 2 hang-out stools), I was DIY and decided that the labor and materials cost was more than I was willing to do for the occasional time I would really want to use it. I did DIY hydronic radiant floor heat which is conducted to the cabinets and counters; they aren't warm but they aren't as icy as they otherwise might be. I still use placemats, summer and winter, to keep hot food from chilling quickly.

Yup I'm in the NE US. Heating granite is identical to heating a bathroom tile floor -- just higher up. At first blush it seems an extravagance -- but perhaps only for the cost of installation -- any heat introduced into a cold living space isn't going to waste -- and the fact that forearms will be resting on it adds a degree of creature comfort that's way up the scale. Contrast the feeling with stone that is at room temperature (65-70) on a cold day. Stone has mass and the temperature it holds is readily transferred to anything it touches.
I also happen to like the idea of keeping a plate warmer while I'm eating (Dec-Mar).

What makes me not so comfortable is the idea that milk and butter can be ruined sitting on the surface. I would hope a thermostat would allow control of the stone from becoming another low-btu simmering area. More research needed there.

The other thing to check out is whether the e-mesh will only warm stone up to 2" away from the edge of the mesh. (that's what the one manufacturer I've found says). But someone here mentioned that the entire slab will heat. If that were the case I could put the mesh between cabinet top and granite -- rather than hiding it under the cantilevered granite. The slab I'm looking at is about 10'x2' with a wider bow (maybe up to 2'6" in the center.) That could put the cabinet installed mesh upto, say, one foot+ from the diner's forearms.

Thanks to all. I will check out the magazines if I can find them. Judeny mentioned mats to warm the counter -- I presume these sit _on_ the counter and can be used and put away as needed?

rightnow all i've found for manufacturers is a hydronic/radiant floor maker: thermosoft international.
Does anyone know any other manufacturers? I'm pretty sure I got this bug in my ear months ago going through an ad in TOH mag or maybe one of those _boutique_/living magazines geared to a specific county (ie the one I live in)

Looking Forward
B

No, the mats I refer to are the same Warmly Yours mesh with wires that are used under tile floors. I had planned on installing them under the overhang (see above post).