malkiserow Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 I am looking at a complete new heating system, boiler, pipes ..... the whole lot. The ground floors are all wooden floorboards with very easy access - What are the benefits of underfloor heating for wooden floors and is it worth it? Anyone with any experience or any plumbers who have installed any? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crowdie2013 Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 what age of house is it? is your existing floor a floating floor or timber joists with sub floor? To be effective you need a proper built up floor system comprising appropriate insulation, top screed etc etc. If your subfloor isn't too deep you could rip existing out completely and put in a solid build up incorporating insulation. Definitely worth it IMO in a new build or major gut of existing but a whore of a work and cost otherwise that you`ll never get back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malkiserow Posted November 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 what age of house is it? is your existing floor a floating floor or timber joists with sub floor? To be effective you need a proper built up floor system comprising appropriate insulation, top screed etc etc. If your subfloor isn't too deep you could rip existing out completely and put in a solid build up incorporating insulation. Definitely worth it IMO in a new build or major gut of existing but a whore of a work and cost otherwise that you`ll never get back 1962 built. Yes it is a major gut out and work going on. There is a basement below the suspended ground floor which is pine boards on beams supported on brick pillars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bodach Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 It was first used Nordic countries and they have stopped installing it now as they are finding that UFH can lead to arthritis in the feet due to being constantly warm, so I would do some research on it. B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesMoody3 Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 I have a brand new house with underfloor heating. It is bloody brilliant, apart from the fact it takes a while to hit the temperature you set it at. Then when it gets too hot it takes about a day to cool down lol. Been in the house a year now and I've just got the hang of it, you'll need to have a play with it first to see how you like it. I have it on a timer so when we are out of the house it goes dormant and maintains a lower temperature, then when we arrive back home it goes up to our comfort temperature. And all my heating is off upstairs, the downstairs floor heats the whole house, and my bedroom window is open all day too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 I have it in a solid floor so can't really comment about a floating floor. I will say it is great best thing we done when we rebuilt a load of our house. If I was to buy another place to renovate to would be at the top of my list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subsonicnat Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 Lad did his in the bathroom only, amazing result.. Lovely and warm always, Well Worth it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mungler Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 I asked the wife if she wanted this in our extension and said no - she likes radiators to lean against and to hang washing off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Bear Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 I am looking at a complete new heating system, boiler, pipes ..... the whole lot. The ground floors are all wooden floorboards with very easy access - What are the benefits of underfloor heating for wooden floors and is it worth it? Anyone with any experience or any plumbers who have installed any? As someone who has had a lot of experience with UHF in commercial settings over the last 40 years my take would be to avoid like the plague particularly on wood floors. UHF requires the thermal mass of a solid floor to work at its most efficient ( which isn't very in my experience). It is slow to warm up and therefore needs to be on almost continuously. Because of the materials used the water temperature cannot exceed 55c and should not run at above 50c. No good if you want to heat your domestic water from the system at 50, or expensive on controls if boiler temperature is higher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 I have it in a solid floor so can't really comment about a floating floor. I will say it is great best thing we done when we rebuilt a load of our house. If I was to buy another place to renovate to would be at the top of my list. we've got it under tiled floors and it is really good. don't know how it would work under suspended wooden floors. It might make the floor buckle and shrink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Kelly Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 As someone who has had a lot of experience with UHF in commercial settings over the last 40 years my take would be to avoid like the plague particularly on wood floors. UHF requires the thermal mass of a solid floor to work at its most efficient ( which isn't very in my experience). It is slow to warm up and therefore needs to be on almost continuously. Because of the materials used the water temperature cannot exceed 55c and should not run at above 50c. No good if you want to heat your domestic water from the system at 50, or expensive on controls if boiler temperature is higher. Domestic underfloor heating systems have a manifold with it's own pump and a blending valve to keep the flow temperature below 50c, so the rest of the heating/hot water can be run at whatever flow temps you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millrace Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 with a suspended wooden floor its like putting the heating on and opening the doors... yes it can be done and anyone who has done it will tell you its brilliant then again if id spent that amount of money id say it was good as well,,,, when it goes wrong its a nightmare you will need to be aware of cost implications of running it if you also go mvhc rem this draws heat away oh the list goes on and on and on..............do i like it no, do i encourage customers to put it no, have i done it yes many times, have i fixed it when old systems go wrong, oh yes cutting floors outa a lived in house loads of fun.... rem it only puts out a certain amount of watts per sq mtr no matter how much pipe you coil in......in other words think long and hard..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 It can be worth it if your existing insulation is top notch, otherwise I wouldn't bother. If you have a suspended wooden floor it may be worth your while seeing if you can insulate it with injected Warmcel rather than paying for yet another heating bill. We have done many floors and lofts this way. How effective it is depends on the depth of your joists of course; the deeper your joists the more effective it will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malkiserow Posted November 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 It can be worth it if your existing insulation is top notch, otherwise I wouldn't bother. If you have a suspended wooden floor it may be worth your while seeing if you can insulate it with injected Warmcel rather than paying for yet another heating bill. We have done many floors and lofts this way. How effective it is depends on the depth of your joists of course; the deeper your joists the more effective it will be. The existing heating is 1970's strip skirting rads which were a claimed 150kW/hr per LM when new!! I will take them all out............. and the house currently has NO insulation. The old potterton boiler is in the basement running into the chimney which I plan to remove so was thinking of going combi with a balance flue in a better place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 Sorry, can't help you with heating systems. We specialise in insulation and none of our houses need radiators as they're insulated so well. Most people just put in a multi fuel burner and some type of heat recovery system, plus photovoltaics or equivalent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_seagrave Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 1962 built. Yes it is a major gut out and work going on. There is a basement below the suspended ground floor which is pine boards on beams supported on brick pillars. Easy Fritzl... LS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Bear Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 Domestic underfloor heating systems have a manifold with it's own pump and a blending valve to keep the flow temperature below 50c, so the rest of the heating/hot water can be run at whatever flow temps you need. As I said expensive additional controls and added running cost - in a domestic situation more things to go wrong. The existing heating is 1970's strip skirting rads which were a claimed 150kW/hr per LM when new!! I will take them all out............. and the house currently has NO insulation. The old potterton boiler is in the basement running into the chimney which I plan to remove so was thinking of going combi with a balance flue in a better place. I know some will disagree (possibly vested intrest) but I have found combis have a shorter efficient life than conventional so ok if you intend to move on but for longer life go conventional. Spend the money on insulation including a pre insulated cylinder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malkiserow Posted November 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 Easy Fritzl... LS The ideas just keep coming, must go cook a schnitzel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flynny Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 with a suspended wooden floor its like putting the heating on and opening the doors... yes it can be done and anyone who has done it will tell you its brilliant then again if id spent that amount of money id say it was good as well,,,, when it goes wrong its a nightmare you will need to be aware of cost implications of running it if you also go mvhc rem this draws heat away oh the list goes on and on and on..............do i like it no, do i encourage customers to put it no, have i done it yes many times, have i fixed it when old systems go wrong, oh yes cutting floors outa a lived in house loads of fun.... rem it only puts out a certain amount of watts per sq mtr no matter how much pipe you coil in......in other words think long and hard..... +1 , in bathrooms it's ok for when you get out of the bath, is it a radiator , NO IMO underfloor heating was invented for " pub talk" ie " oh we've had underfloor heating in our house blah blah blah" It can work as the other posters have suggested, but at cost , Wether it's worth it or not is up to you and how deep your pockets are, It will never heat your house up as good as rads Atb Flynny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banger123 Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 Installed loads of it. It definitely works better with solid screed floor that has a minimum of 100mm celotex type insulation. Try to use the most intelligent controls you can afford as they are not cheap. It also is most cost effective when installed alongside either ground or air source heat pumps but works happily with a boiler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malkiserow Posted November 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 Sorry, can't help you with heating systems. We specialise in insulation and none of our houses need radiators as they're insulated so well. Most people just put in a multi fuel burner and some type of heat recovery system, plus photovoltaics or equivalent. Hi Sully, I assume you are into passive haus? I am a big fan of more insulation and less heating ...... what suggestions do you have for Uber insulation other than spray warmcell ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaymo Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 Hijack alert We have block n beam concrete and absolutely no way of placing the pipework on top. Is it feasible to heat from the underneath - would use an airsource heat pump as that's what they seem to use here in France but that seems to be on new builds. Tah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 Hi Sully, I assume you are into passive haus? I am a big fan of more insulation and less heating ...... what suggestions do you have for Uber insulation other than spray warmcell ? Yes, we build Passiv, but not exclusively. Warmcel doesn't have to be wet sprayed; we stopped doing that a long time ago...bloody awful job. It can be blown in under pressure ( injection ) or open blown. Give Gutex a google, see if it would be suitable in your case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellow Bear Posted November 13, 2015 Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 Hijack alert We have block n beam concrete and absolutely no way of placing the pipework on top. Is it feasible to heat from the underneath - would use an airsource heat pump as that's what they seem to use here in France but that seems to be on new builds. Tah Too thick, plus you would need to 100mm plus insulation under - if the depth above pipes is greater than 50mm it takes forever to warm through. Reminds me of a project in Edinburgh - "tented" area on roof was designed to have 25mm screed and 25mm terrazzo - architect found some more money and put 25mm sand on top of screed and then 90mm marble slabs but had no money left to change heating design - afaik it never got warm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malkiserow Posted November 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2015 Yes, we build Passiv, but not exclusively. Warmcel doesn't have to be wet sprayed; we stopped doing that a long time ago...bloody awful job. It can be blown in under pressure ( injection ) or open blown. Give Gutex a google, see if it would be suitable in your case. OK, seen that now. There is nothing under the floorboard to trap any loose insulation. Below the floorboards is a 6 foot drop to the bottom of the cellar. Would solid Kingspan board cut to width and pushed in do the job? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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