When my mother-in-law’s health plummeted last year, I urged my wife to invite her to live with us.
- Our relationship doesn’t fit the stereotype because I love my mother-in-law.
After my biological mother passed away several years ago, my mother-in-law is the closest thing to a living mom that I have. She constantly gives us advice and teaches us new cooking recipes whenever she visits. I was relieved when she agreed to move into our house. When my wife told her that I’m going to convert half of the upstairs space into a mother-in-law suite, she was overjoyed with gratitude! However, it has been rough keeping the second floor warm during our cold winters here. Even though heat rises, we don’t have an efficient furnace in the first place. That’s why I took a different approach when I called to replace our central heating system. Despite the higher cost of installation, I paid to get radiant heated flooring throughout both floors of our house. I hoped that it would give my wife and her mother more comfort in the house between autumn and spring when we usually run a fan-forced furnace. Thankfully they were both thrilled with the radiant floors! My mother-in-law loves stepping out of the shower at night onto the warm floor below. I feel the same way when I get out of bed in the morning. And since heat naturally rises, it’s a much more energy efficient heating system compared to other options commonly available in most areas. The only heater that might surpass radiant flooring in efficiency is a quality heat pump, in particular a geothermal system.