Who fits underfloor heating? Is it worth it?

[filigree2015]

Boiler man says it's not him, flooring guy says it isn't him either and the builder doesn't seem very interested!

Also, does anyone know how much roughly we might expect to pay, and is it worth it? Area is about 15 by 24 feet. It's low priority compared with other things we need to do - some structural work and damp proofing etc - so we might have to stick to radiators if it's wildly expensive. I'd love it though, especially as we have various alcoves that make radiator siting a bit awkward. Thanks!

you need a heating engineer because the controls have to be designed and connected.

Perhaps you should ask around for another if yours is not familiar with the job.

The laying of the pipes might be done by a plumber or builders labourer under the guidance of the heating engineer. It must be tested for leaks before covering.

It is worthwhile if incorporated with laying and insulation of a new floor, but excessively expensive otherwise.

Thank you! We'll be stripping out the floor and laying karndean so we could wrap it all up. Just would probably need a bit more time to save for it.

Omg I love underfloor heating! Wish we had it in all of our house, but sadly just the conservatory. Ours is run off our heating oil central heating system - electric underfloor is expensive to run.

You will need a heating engineer as Pigletjohn says as the underfloor is connected to the heating system via a manifold, zone valve and pump. Depending on areas to heat will de side the number of zones you need e.g a toilet / bathroom will require a separate zone to the living area. Although a builder can install the pex pipe.

We have just the one zone in the conservatory, which is also our office (heaven daydreaming looking at the garden whilst pretending to work with toasty feet). At the moment it only comes on in the morning, heats to 21degrees then does not come on again until the next morning. Not that it is not timed to, the floor retains the heat so well it doesn't need to. We have a floor like Kardean in there.

We installed our own as we're heating engineers and have installed quite a few large underfloor systems. My advice, phone round and ask if they have experience before getting them out to quote. Best to go on recommendations from neighbours etc as you will want an engineer who will come back if you have a problem and not ignore your call (sadly heard this a few times recently) Good luck!

We laid our pipes ourselves and then got a qualified ufh specialist to connect and test

Thanks for the advice - that's really helpful. I've texted the heating engineer boiler man this eve, and he says he does fit it - I must have got confused! He did a lovely job of our boiler pipes last year so will see what he says when he comes to quote. To be honest I think it might push the budget a bit too far, but if I don't enquire I won't know!

We have just had UFH fitted in a new kitchen / extension. We went for it because the seating area beyond the kitchen was not that wide and we needed to maximise wall space so didn't want radiators. The room is 9m x 3m but the UFH was not laid under where the kitchen cabinets would be down each side (about 5m each side). We went for a water system that runs off the boiler like central heating. The plumber used by our builder fitted it and charged us £1,200 for supply and installation.