You might also look into an in-floor hydronic radiant
heating system that is either gas or electric boiler heated.

Either way, hydronic or electric cable wire, I would
recommend installing the ceramic tiles with a Schluter Ditra membrane to ‘decouple' the tiles from the concrete floor, thus reducing the possibility of cracking or
breaking. Schluter Ditra can also be used as a base for any type of in-floor radiant
system.

Schluter is the ‘Gold Standard' for tile decoupling and wet
room wall and floor waterproofing.

Personally, I would not (and have not since 2000) build any
bathroom or ceramic floor without it!

Schluter Ditra Membrane

IMPO

SR

I wouldn't be concerned. It's not like you will be standing for hours while you watch tv, ya know? Think of the places you will need to stand for longer periods; at the kitchen sink for example. If down the road you find that you want to add a fatigue mat in front of the sink, you can.

I would also highly recommend that you use the Schluter Ditra Membrane. Well worth the money and will give you piece of mind.

We have 2200 square feet of ceramic flooring and love it. We are in the 'senior' age group and we don't find it any issue with joints or any other type of fatigue. Our last house had 2000 square feet of hardwood (kitchen included) and I can't tell any difference in walking around. I cook a lot so standing in the kitchen for many hours at a time. As mentioned you could always use a fatigue mat in the main kitchen areas if you felt you needed something after you are in. They come in more pleasing styles than they used to.

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/1/1/674640-relaxed-chef-19-6-inch-x-39-3-inch-anti-fatigue-kitchen-mat-navy.html

We moved to the southwest several years ago where tile is used A LOT!

Earlier this year we replaced all our flooring with tile. I'm used to walking around barefoot and soon noticed that my feet hurt.

I bought some really cheap (and really ugly) "croc" style shoes that have a lot of shock absorption to wear as inside shoes. When I wear them there's no problem. But if I forget and go barefoot for a few days I notice the difference.

We have had both wood and tile at different times. I didn't notice a difference in terms of body stress. I would say the tile is more echoey and colder in the winter months and cooler in the summer. We needed area rugs in the living spaces to soften it up and reduce the echo. Also some of the tiles cracked as the house settled.

I'm a senior and don't 'have any problem with the tile throughout my house. I am barefoot in the summer and wear slip-on deck shoes on the cold floors in the winter.

We have all tile on our main floor. It is hard on the feet and joints. If you can get used to wearing slippers/shoes around it is fine. But we also put area carpets down and carpet runners (sort of like little habitrails) around the house which make it easier to walk in bare feet). I prefer bare feet but have slippers I wear around the house often.

All flooring is a tradeoff. Carpet is soft but easily soiled. Wood gets scratched and need refinished, often with noxious chemicals. Tile is hard but easy to clean.

My favorite flooring was a solid surface linoleum I had in an old house. I'm not sure they make it anymore. It was a solid material all the way through, had no odor, repelled dirt and was soft to walk on because the sub floor was plywood.

I must say the wood look tile does look fantastic. The only issue we've had is cracking when the tile spans a doorway and they are on different heat zone pours (our heat is in-floor hydronic). To fix that we have used the grout caulk to patch those areas so it is a bit more flexible. Probably a better tile installer could have avoided this issue.

Would I put it down again? Probably not if I knew I was living here so long. I would have put down my solid surface linoleum. But since this subfloor is concrete I may not have gotten the softness I liked out of it. But I would not have had to deal with cracking grout issues. The reason I didn't put it in was I was concerned about resale. Wood look tile has a more high end look.

I was interested in hardwood but didn't know how it would perform with the expansion and contraction of the floor heat. I also was concerned it would insulate the heat too much. If you get carpet go with a thin berber (ours was a cheap berber). We had that in our upstairs and the heat came through beautifully. Then we got a cheap plush style and the heat does not come through very well.

I would, I did, and I loved it.