You'd only be heating it a few degrees from room temperature 68 degrees to maybe 80-85 degrees. Those few degrees is all it takes to make it not feel cold to the touch. It doesn't get hot unless you put a lot more wattage to it. And you don't want it hot enough for buffet items!

It'd bad for rolling out pie crusts. And it also puts it at a more friendly temperature for bacterial growth, so you'd need to not do any food prep on the counters (not a great idea anyway) as well as be sure you cleanup up well after a prep event. Drips and spills would also dry to the touch faster, and if you're someone who waits to cleanup rather than as you go, you'd be scrubbing a lot more than wiping.

We just turned on the "heat" to our island. It's almost midnight so I will post more tomorrow. So far we love it!

Rolled out cookies which came out great. No issues with cleaning...no scrubbing needed.

Again more tomorrow. Happy New Year!

I heat my stone countertop when I was dishes in my dishwasher. I'm not quite sure why I'd want it heated, why I'd want to pay for heating it independently, or what benefit there is to heating a countertop as I like baking, so work very hard to keep things chilled.

Now, my copper table top... that I'd like heated...

Interesting information . . . Thanks!

Pies: I missed out on the secret for great pies, and my shells are almost always those that come from the grocery store and just need to be rolled out. So no great loss there.

I had not considered the "baked drips" thing, but that does make sense,

As for how hot it gets, is it a binary switch: that is, it's either ON or OFF . . . Or is it a dial that can be adjusted up and down? Is the switch located on island?

Does the system have some sort of off-switch off that kicks in after X amount of time, or could it potentially be left on all night? I'm wondering if a child could turn it on without my knowledge. Would this be a fire hazard?

I'm planning a 3x5-6 island, completely flat -- no raised area -- can the heat element fit any size? I'm thinking it's like the rolled stuff that goes und the floor and is adjustable. True?

Finally, is this JUST a granite thing? I'm solidly in love with Blue Volga granite, but I am still having the occasional fling with the idea of recycled glass, and I touch it every time I go to the store.

Thanks for the advice.

Granite (or any stone) will be whatever room temperature that you keep your house at, and it only feels cold because of it's thermal mass and ability to absorb heat. When your warm hands or arms touch it, it removes the heat from them very easily. Therefore your brain perceives that as "cold". It's not. It's room temperature.

I think you really should visit a few friends that have granite counters this winter. Touch them. Lean on them. Find out for yourself if you find the stone objectionably cold. Some will. Most won't. Or won't see themselves coming into contact with it long enough to want to go to the extra trouble and expense of heating the counters.

It's not that hard or that much extra money if you do find that you want to do it. But it's a personal judgement call on your part. And as mentioned previously, you're not talking about heating the counters to be "hot" counters. Not at all. Just "not room temperature".

"Finally, is this JUST a granite thing?" NO. :-(
Our Silestone feels like ice. Ugh. Ambient kitchen (winter right now) temp runs 68 - 70F. Will be interesting to see how Silestone feels in summer, when ambient kitchen temp 78 - 80F.

The tile store that I frequent has heated counters. They are basically the same system that heats flooring in bathrooms. There are timers/heating controls that turn it on and off, and turn it on automatically at a certain time. In this case, they also use it because they are located in a warehouse and the heated counters radiate the warmth for those at the counter. If you were to do this in your kitchen, the heated counters would contribute to the heat in the room, thus be much like radiant floor heating. That might be a good thing for you in the mornings, much like people who have automatic radiant heating in their bathrooms for when they wake up and hit the shower in the AM.

Every time I go to the tile store, I love to lean all over the counter! The store cat loves to sit on it! If this is something that matters to you, I would do it. My DH barely heats the house, much less the counters (he would flip if I did this)...but I would love it :)

OMG! I think I have to do the small section of counter space that's the desk/window perch that the cats sit on. I never thought about that. What a silly luxury for a spoiled cat! LOL!

Anything with a large thermal mass and decent heat conduction feels 'cool' if it is below about 98.6F
Extremities are normally slightly below body core temp anyway.

It would wreck pasty prep by melting the butter cut into the dough.

This post was edited by brickeyee on Tue, Jan 1, 13 at 17:02

Turn off the heat on baking days and the granite will be ice cold and great to roll on.

The cat has been sneaking on the island. Need to put a stop to that. We built a larger window sill for her to sit on but so far she never does.

Greendesign: yes, but the heater will help heat the room (or that's what you can tell everyone!)

I agree with debrak: there's no reason that the heater has to be on at all times. The beauty of the system is that when you want it, you can turn it on, and even later in the day or during the warm season, you can turn it off.

Debrak 2008, I saw your pictures in the other thread -- very informative. Thanks! I'm very glad to have learned all this.

I hadn't considered cats. I am currently catless, but I hope to change that. My old cat was trained to stay off the countertops (trained him with a water bottle), and he really didn't care about them. But, then, my countertops weren't so lovely and warm either!

I am new to heated countertops, but I know cats backwards and forwards: First, does the windowsill where you want the cat to sit have direct sunlight? If so, you can train the cat to enjoy sitting there. I'd place a cushion in that area, and rub it with catnip. Or, go all out and place a couple cups of real, growing catnip in the windowsill. Do this for a couple weeks, and you'll have a hard time getting the cat to leave that spot.

another heating option is available if a house has circ water in-floor heat. heat tubing is routered into chabnnels on the underside of the stone and the countertop loop gets it's own controller. is a really nice upgrade and also provides cooling in summer if desired.

only real objection I ever heard was need to use insulating coasters for cold drinks.

Living in northern Utah where the winters are cold, I can honestly say I would never want my granite counters heated. I knead bread directly on them (the house is kept at 68 degrees in the winter), so the surface is definitely cool to the touch. I make pie crusts and would definitely not want to work on a heated counter. And, when I made over 600 cut Christmas cookies last month, I actually found the cool temp of the granite very helpful in keeping the dough cool, which meant that it didn't need additional flour in the rolling/cutting process. (Additional flour would toughen the dough). So, from a baking perspective, I much prefer my granite at room temps. I do all the baking "things" directly on the granite (kneading, rolling dough, etc.) and have never found baking as easy as it is with a granite counter. I recommend you save your money for other improvements, and let the granite remain at room temperature.