According to a recent industry report, floor heating sales were driven so far in 2023 by growth in “spot heating” products.

WarmlyYours, a radiant heating manufacturer that specializes in radiant heating products like electric floor heating and snow melting systems, released their “Q3 2023 Industry Report” earlier this week. This report analyzes the sales of radiant heating products (by using WarmlyYours sales data as a proxy for the industry as a whole) within the wider context of the national housing and remodeling markets. One of the most surprising findings in the report was that heating elements designed for spot heating applications were the primary drivers of floor heating sales growth in the third quarter of this year.

Spot heating is a method of designing floor heating systems so that you only install heating elements under the most used sections of the floor. This method helps to cut down on both product costs and operating costs when compared to systems designed for “full coverage” without having to sacrifice comfort for the end user. According to the report, the Environ Easy Mat (up 124.9%) and the TempZone Easy Mat (up 45%), both of which are spot heating elements, were the fastest growing floor heating products for the company in Q3 2023.

The report also found that the growth for both Easy Mat products would explain the exceptional rate of change seen in floor heating projects quoted for bedrooms (up 24.7%), kitchens (up 17.1%), offices (up 16%), and bathrooms (up 7.4%). These are all room types that have relatively predictable foot traffic patterns which makes them ideal for spot heating since you can just heat the areas that will be used most, said Julia Billen owner and president of WarmlyYours.

“The key ingredient to successfully designing a spot heating system is close coordination between 3 different parts. Of course the design team and the end user play key roles but I would argue that the lynch pin is really the sales representatives who act as a medium between the other two,” said Billen. “It’s the representative’s job to listen to the customer and to truly understand what it is that they’re going to need from the system and then to get that information back to the design team. That’s why we put so much time and effort into training for our sales people and it has paid off many times over.”

Read the report in full here.