Surface heater

You could use radiant heaters like under tile floors.

It would require you remove the top and install heater.

I've got a large granite counter top exposed to the exterior wall. I had a contractor take the exterior wall off and reinsulate it.

Did the countertop get frigid at night and cooled the entire kitchen before also?

If it did and the result is same as expected with marble/granite top there is not much you can do and undergoing expenses of installing heaters for what? Its not a hot plate (where the heater has stopped working) and you need to warm up your food.

In this forum you will get all sorts of technical advices that will drive you crazy.

For the beauty of granite you must bear this (as expense) like we do with all preety ladies and we bear the expenses of beauty parlor/cosmetics!

Certain things are better left alone.

Radiant Underfloor heating works by having heating mats that fit under your flooring. These heating pads are temperature controlled by a simple to use thermostat. An average countertop (typical sized island) will be about $200-$300 depending on the size and width.

Installation is as easy as presetting a thinset of undercoating, Laying your underheating pads and connecting them to the thermostat and then setting your flooring or countertops overtop the undermat and installing them as usual.

This is an interesting solution is there a website or manufacturer you'd suggest I go to?

Thanks.

www.nuheat.com

I would have posted this earlier; I didn't know if it was allowed. This is just the one I looked up, there's probably many more. It's good you asked this, as I do tile on the side and have been wanting to offer the heat as an option.

The question is entirely in order.

For heating it might be appropriate to use an infra-red heater mounted above it, heating the counter only when required. Easier than heating panels beneath it, perhaps?

Is there insulation in the ceiling surface above it? 200-250mm Rockwool (other insulation techniques and suppliers are available) infill between the ceiling joists is typical these days. Stopping the heat getting out can be better than pouring more heat in to make up the loss, perhaps?

I suppose you could use an electric blanket, but you would need I think to put some thing over the top to make it efficient and cost effective. And I think you should have smoke detectors near by just in case?

Regards JD.

Install or replace the lamps above the counter with heat lamps.

Bob Rich,

As Swellmel noted, you can try using heating mats of the type used for subfloor heating. However, instead of utilizing that type of mat, which could require dismantling of the countertop, laying some sort of backer board, and installing the heating pad in thinset cement, then reinstalling the granite on top...

There are available on the market various sizes of Flexible Silicone-Rubber Heat Sheets, that are either self-adhesive, or can be installed with RTV silicone rubber adhesive directly on the underside of the granite.

Similarly, you might also consider installing some heat cable or tape, installed directly on the granite's underside, with heat transfer putty. (This would probably be more economical than the heat sheets)

I don't know where your home is, but you can get an idea of what might be available in the Mcmaster-Carr catalog: (http://www.mcmaster.com/),

Thanks, I've tried heat cable and it didn't work well.

I'll check out the website you sent, I'm located in Denver.

The impication is that.

a) The granite top conducts the heat out via the wall. Or

b) The granite retains the overnight temperature of the kitchen, when the heating comes on in the morning the thermal inertia of the granite keeps it cold for too long.

If a) fit a thermal break between the granite and the outside wall (but havn't you just done this?)

If b) Program the heating to come on sooner, or add some heat lamps or some such (as suggested by others) on a simple time switch to come on early and give the counter a head start.

Alternatively make use of the nice cold counter by rolling out pastry and making lots of nice pies...mmmm pies.

Del

Thanks,

The pies are a good idea.

In this forum you will get all sorts of technical advices that will drive you crazy.

And yummy too!

I'm not going crazy yet and there have been several interesting suggestions that I am researching further. I have some logical abilities but am note an expert and have found this forum valuable.

Solving this on my own has not been successful and you talk to someone at Home Depot or Lowe's and get a blank look.

Hey Hey, I work at Lowe's! No just kidding--my daughter does.

She gives me a "blank look" even when she's not at work!

No seriously, I've done a bunch of bathroom/kitchen floors (including my own) where I got the same old "It's cold in the morning" line. I haven't done one with the radiant yet, but I can guarantee you I won't do another without it. When I build my new house, it will have radiant flooring throughout(water-to-water geothermal).

Cream and heat rise to the top.

One more note:

If you brew your own beer don't store them under the heated countertop!

A massive granite slab when installed on a island work space in the center of the kitchen is still a cold item. I have "Corian" and my daughter has a similar material for her food preparagion work surfaces. It is cool to the touch but not frigid.

There all kinds of heating systems that would warm the slab and add to you heating bill! If the edge of the slab butts up against the studs most of the heat is being conducted away through the stud wall and all the mineral wool, fiberglass won't do much to keep the slab warm. Moving the base cabinets, slab top and all away from the wall and adding insulation behind the cabinets and top will help more that the insulation IN the wall. Talk to a local insulation vendor for help/suggestions, on site!

There all kinds of heating systems that would warm the slab and add to you heating bill!

First its not his floor but a countertop. I mentioned about expense he will go through. For the beauty of the thing he should bear this.

Moving the base cabinets, slab top and all away from the wall and adding insulation behind the cabinets and top will help more that the insulation .

Might work but not worthwhile.

I've a house in Brampton/Toronto and a grainte counter top. In winter the temperature averages -22C to -28C. Going through a hassle like this to keep it hot/ warm not worthwhile to me so I left it alone.I bought this house 4 years back and who knows, the kids will sell it to buy a bigger/different else where.So anything I do will go down the drain for me.

Ducon

PS

Maybe the cold waterline is touching the granite slab.

In Saudi Arabia at Mecca & Madina Holy places they have granite flooring but with chilled waterline under it so even in the extreme May-August hot afternoon you can walk bare feet.

You didn't mention anything about the current temp of your floor or your wall. Do either of these feel cold in the morning? I don't know of anyone with in-floor radiant heat that has the problem with a cold granite counter. Never thought about it, but I'll keep asking around.

As a minimalist alternative, instead of the thermal break between the counter and the wall, just use any of the small electric heat type sheets mentioned above. It shouldn't take much unless you let your kitchen get really cold at night.

For those that design for passive solar, the thermal retentivity of granite is a godsend when it is used properly to smooth out the highs and lows of the day, but if it gets too far to one extreme it can be a real albatross.

I wish you well and thank you for enlightening those of us that are still drooling at the thought of one day owning a granite countertop.

Hear hear!

"I wish you well and thank you for enlightening those of us that are still drooling at the thought of one day owning a granite countertop".

Stirling stan said it somewhere above me here, if the slab is in contact with the outside wall somehow, it will just syphon all the heat. You will get a big bill and still a cold slab. You might need to put up with it OR isolate the slab from the outside walls by cutting through the top surface the full length of the contact edge and fill it with an heat isolating epoxy.

For me Del said it best.

If what you say is true, you need to break the thermal connection to the outside wall or even insulate that wall much better, probably from the outside is best.

If you can't do that, cover the granite up each evening, "tuck it in" so to say.

Wasting heat/energy to warm it up is a 50 years ago answer, not a modern energy saving answer.....

It could indicate that your house insulation generally sucks anyway.....fix that first!