Underfloor heating

[Arianna1]

Hi mums! Does any of you have underfloor heating? If so do you think it's wor it? Thank you!

[nicknackpaddywhack]

Hi. We do in our conservatory. I think it's pretty expensive to run, but without it our conservatory would be unusable over the winter months. What would you like to know?

[nicknackpaddywhack]

Just asked my husband and our 21 square metre room costs about 30p an hour to heat. In the really cold months we have it on probably 4 hours a day. So £1.20 a day which is why our electricity bill goes up by about £35 a month in the winter.

[Arianna1]

We are thinking to lay water UFH for our ground floor 45 sq m but are lost for the correct info. One builder recommended Nu Heat which lays directly in top of the screed and is affordable; another said this system loses too much heat into the earth and suggested Hetta which is 3 times more expensive and requires digging the concrete. We are really lost...our house is not greatly insulaiand doesn't touch the neighbour walls

[Arianna1]

Is it water or electric ?

[nicknackpaddywhack]

Ours is electric. It almost looked like an electric blanket which was fitted between the concrete and the floorboards. I think there was some sort of insulation like tin foil that went under there too. No idea re water though sorry!

[Digestive28]

We have. It's amazing - more even heat and toasty toes! Although no raditotors do think about furniture, best with things not flat to ground (e.g. Had divan bed and underneath bed for warm but didn't circulate). Also best to have on low constant rather than on and off in morning/evening

[Arianna1]

I hear electric heating is crazy in the running costs especially for a big room.. is that the case?

[Arianna1]

Is yours water or electric? Do you have it in the entire house?

[Digestive28]

We haven't found it particularly more expensive as use differently, so on low constant over winter. It's costs more when put it on and off lots. Also a new house so well insulated and yep in whole house

[Motionoftheoceon]

We have water ufh through our whole downstairs. It's all open plan and radiators just wouldn't work. It's so efficient and gets much warmer than our upstairs ( radiators). We keep it on low constantly, as it's heating the slab up to temperature that costs, but once at the right temperature it's very cheap to maintain.

We buy and develop our houses, and it's always a must for us.

[Arianna1]

May I ask the name of the brand if UFG you have used?

[Arianna1]

Water or electric?

[NOMOREoatcakesandcheese]

I don’t want derail your thread but are there any restrictions on the types of floor coverings with UFH?

[johnd2]

proper water ufh won't cost more than normal heating as the floor will be properly insulated
However any kind of electric mat especially on an old solid floor/conservatory will be expensive because over half the heat will go straight into the ground, and electricity costs triple of gas in the first place. But if you're using it in the same vein as a patio heater, just to heat yourself while you're on it, then it doesn't matter that it all disappears. Eventually all the heat ends up outside, just depends how quickly it gets there.

[whiskyowl]

nomore - I don't think there are any regulations (I could be wrong about this) but there are more and less ideal coverings when it comes to conductivity. You're not really supposed to use UFH with wood or carpet because they just sort of muffle the heat and you end up losing efficiency; something conductive like ceramic or porcelain tile is ideal. As a PP said, you can now get porcelain tiles that are a dead ringer for wood (they are quite uncannily good), so you can still have that look if you want.

[VeryPunny]

We have electric underfloor heating throughout our extension. We have no mains gas so water UFH was not an option. It’s not terribly expensive but we did redo the entire subfloor before laying the UFH so it’s insulated out the wazoo, as are the walls and ceiling so heat losses are minimal. The room is just set to a comfortable temperature all year round; I noticed the floor getting warm in the mornings a week or two ago.

[Doublechocolatetiffin]

We have water ufh throughout our entire downstairs and I think it's brilliant. Especially when it gets colder and the floor is slightly warm! We have a ground source heat pump though so this is the best way of heating the house. No idea if it costs more or not though because we ripped out an oil system with underspecced radiators!

[Arianna1]

Thanks guys! We are going for water heating but can't figure out if we should indeed dig out the screed first or if we can lay retrofit water heating right on top of it . Different uilders give opposite advice

[tutumax]

Hi Arianna, will follow your thread as we just bought a property and have the same doubts as you.

[johnd2]

Ree digging out, if you don't you'll have a lot of extra hight on the floor. Also if it's not insulated to the latest standard then it'll be expensive to run due to heat loss.
I think the minimum buildup for an already insulated floor is about 20mm, uses pipes embedded in plywood.

[Roussette]

I love UFH and would have it throughout the house if we could. We have it in kitchen, conservatory, dining area (all open plan) and hall. I just prefer the heat it gives out, so much more pleasant than a radiator kicking out heat. I also love not having radiators in the way in this area. We are tiled.

We have electric not water, and I have learnt to regulate it so it doesn't cost too much. Only thing is, it does take an hour or two to actually feel the benefit of it when you turn it on. Also would pay attention to who lays it, you need insulation underneath so the heat projects upwards

[Tubbyinthehottub]

We have Polypipe overlay (water) in a large kitchen/diner/family room. It is great and not expensive to run. We have electric in bathrooms i.e. where it’s not on for long.

[fairislecable]

A friend has just built a large kitchen diner extension, she was advised to have water underfloor heating.

This involved having a digger brought into the house to lower the existing flooring!

It was definitely worth it as this allowed maximum insulation to be fitted under the pipes to minimise heat loss downwards. This will recoup initial outlay in ongoing running costs.

[expatmigrant]

We have just laid NuHeat water UFH and it easy to control. Just literally started using it this week so no idea what it will actually cost to run.

[ChishandFips33]

We have NU heat in our current house (already laid, in screed) and love it but laid Wundafloor retro fit panels in a house we did up. Less height increase than doing the screed option
Company were very helpful and it wasn't expensive to do. Plumber didn't have any issues with it either

Much nicer heat than radiators

We have a stone floor in current house but laid UFH suitable engineered floor in doer upper