under floor heating

[buckaroo23]

has any one got under floor heating or know what its like. os it worth having running cost, and what the cost if installing

[DuncanH]

We have it on the ground floor of my house, a very complicated system that was there when we moved in, only problem with it is that it seems a bit more expensive to run than plain radiators. Without knowing how big/how well insulated your house is then its hard to tell how expensive it will be. Do you want electric or pipes under the floor?

[Spiderdude]

We have it the electric underfloor heating system....Not had it on for three years now as almost doubled my previous heating bill.

[buckaroo23]

ive got an open plan living/dinning room and the stairs case is in the front room so the heat from the rads go straight up stairs was thing of getting solar pannels fitted to run the system to cut cost down

[northy]

has any one got under floor heating or know what its like. os it worth having running cost, and what the cost if installing

 

 

Running costs for electric underfloor heating is aprox 1p per square metre, per hour...

 

Sounds reasonable to me.

[rimfire4969]

I have electric floor heating in my L shaped conservatory. I had to put to systems in as the floor area was to big for one. I love it very easy to install and instant heat when you need it, i just set the thermastat and it kicks like normal heating or manuel overide when needed.

[FalconFN]

I have electric underfloor heating in a downstairs bathroom. It's 200w and covers 1.5 sq meters, it was easy to install and very controlable and takes up no room, unlike an electric radiator. Can be expensive to run as a main heat source but it's nice on the feet on a cold winters day.

[officerdibble777]

we put electric underfloor heating in the conservatory when we built it ,used all the proper insuation and screed etc. we used the proper underlay for using woode floors with the under floor heating,and the bills were huge,the floor was about 24sq mtr and the temp was set to 24deg it added about £300 to a quarterly electric bill

john

[leeds chimp]

we have underfloor in the whole house....easy to use but it is expensive i think as our normal electricity bill is between £130 and £170....if we have it on even "low" 19-21 degrees adds on £150-200 a quarter

[imissalot]

Fitted loads m8 would not have it my self plus you need to have it fitted and tested while it is being laid and after you have finished laying the floor by a reg sparks

[Ricko]

Any electrical methods at providing heat are always going to be expensive to run due to the large amount of current drawn by the item: electric shower, electric fire, electric iron etc.

Edited June 5, 2011 by ricko

[Pheasant Feeder]

Think the wet system is probably more cost efficient but needs doing proffesionaly, or you end up with hot spots and cold spots, also if not insulated correctly you end wasting a lot of energy.

[cockercas]

Under floor heating is the best way to heat your house. Providing thers sufficient insulation in the floor because the heat can only rise up it warms the concrete slab up and when the heating turns off the slab retains the heat slowly giving it off. If your interested in it and it means ripping all your floors up talk to a plumber who has a good rep for installing it and if you are into renewable energy look into air source heating unit to power it. Then it virtually no running costs with it. And you can get a grant for it to

[cockercas]

Forgot to add. Go for the wet system and avoid electric underfloor at all costs. The best info you can get is from a reputable plumber and builder phone them

[Pheasant Feeder]

Mate of mine has the air source unit for his heating mitsubishi I think, heard how much his heating bill was, and nearly choked. Might be ok as a secondary unit but I would be looking at a main source of heating fueled by something else (wood burner).

[cockercas]

I don't think wood burners will do underfloor heating. Ground source is the best option but you need a bit of land to do it. Like I said phone a plumber

[al4x]

Unless its a new build forget underfloor heating. Wet systems are the only way to go and that means laying it when you lay the floor. They cost more to install and run and slow to react to changes in outside temps. As for ground source systems fine if you have 10k to spend

[Kes]

We have redone our house recently and looked at underfloor.

Concluded that a wet system wasnt appropriate as it was an old house and the floors were uninsulated concrete - so we put in thick reclaimed wood floors (even where we carpeted) and rads.

Thought about electric u/f in the bathroom but it would have had to be on a timer to be any use and on long enough to cover all possible get up times.

In the end we didnt do it and put in a large rad. There are some mornings when I have to wear slippers or the floors a bit cold and unwelcoming.

Heating bills are less than £1500 per year for water and rooms (biggish house) as we insulated wherever we could as thickly as poss.

The choices seemed to have paid off, as we are on oil and in 14 years its gone from 12p a litre to 70p at its worst.

Personal advice would be insulate as well as you possibly can as if you do, all your fuel consumption will reduce and your bills start going the right way.

[hamster123]

i m getting a mitsubushi air source heat and air con system fitted tomorrow its 15000 btus and costs 3p per hour on heat and 2p per hour on cold

[Fisherman Mike]

I had a gas fired wet system in my house when I bought it...I ripped it out and put traditional radiators in.

 

Its not as controlable as a conventional rad system which is instant and doesnt take 8 - 10 hours to heat the fabric of the building. We have installed 100,s of systems in the last few years in schools, offices and healthcare premises as well as domestic installations.... Some are happy some are not.

 

Biggest criticism apperar to be cost of running, but if you install any heating system and dont spend money on optimum insulation in walls floor and roof then anything is going to be expensive to install.

 

I fear in 15 - 20 years time we will be ripping them out and installing rads.

 

Biggest disadvantage though according to the good lady is no where to dry clothes in a hurry when you want to.

[Spoonbed]

The Mitsi air source ( Ecodan) is probably about the best on the market,even though I'm slightly sceptical of the figures they promote. Can be a good idea to combine with their PV panels.

As with all of these things the payback time is going to be long(despite rising oil costs)

 

Cheers

[Diceman]

If you have underfloor heating in your tiled conservatory, here is a quick tip. Don't turn it on when there is a massive bag of kids' easter eggs hidden on the floor behind the sofa. Just saying.

[-Mongrel-]

Under floor heating is the best way to heat your house. Providing thers sufficient insulation in the floor because the heat can only rise up it warms the concrete slab up and when the heating turns off the slab retains the heat slowly giving it off. If your interested in it and it means ripping all your floors up talk to a plumber who has a good rep for installing it and if you are into renewable energy look into air source heating unit to power it. Then it virtually no running costs with it. And you can get a grant for it to

 

 

Agree with pretty much all of the above. I would only use a wet system, it's too expensive as an electric system. As a retrofit in an older house it can be difficult with solid floors as you need to lay insulation ple another 75mm of screed over that, generally raises the floor level too high. It can b retrofitted in timber floors, I've done a few and they work surprisingly...not as well as in a solid floor though.

 

The thing to bear in mind is that you don't use it in the same way as a radiator system. It's much more about maintaining a comfortable temperature all the time and 'topping' the heat up when required rather than blasting heat out and dragging the house up to temperature. You don't turn it off for several hours a day. This is more efficient, it's also why we are now being encouraged to fit programmable room thermostats on conventional systems which you also vary temperature at different times of the day rather than switching on and off.

IMO it's also a better way of heating as the whole building gets heated and maintains that heat rather than heating and cooling and then having to blast heat in again. You don't suffer with 'cold spots' in a room, it's even heat all across the floor, all of the floors are warm so none of this putting shoes on as your feet are cold, you don't suffer with rads being to small, whatever the room size. if you cover the floor correctly with pipe it will heat that room, the bigger the floor the more pipe, simple as that.

Combine it with a renewable energy source and IMO you are getting as close to an ideal system as you currently can.

[buckaroo23]

thanks for all your advice, don't think i will get it now goning to look at installing another rad or maybe a gas fire. so once thanks for the advice

 

ps i dont like any of you now as this means the mrs was right do'h haha

[V8landy]

was thing of getting solar pannels fitted to run the system to cut cost down

 

 

But surley it there is enough sun to run the system, it will be warm enough not to be needing heating on?