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Original poster

Underfloor heating quandry

15 replies

Raaraaboonah · 13/09/2019 15:41

We are redoing our kitchen as it was falling apart and have to replace the flooring due to the units being in the floor rather than on it. This means we'll have to rip up around 50 sq m of tiles before relaying (and by we i mean the lovely tiler man who I will be paying a small fortune to).

It seems sensible to install underfloor heating as the kitchen is combined with a conservatory which is boiling in the summer and freezing in the winter plus there is a utility room with the same flooring that will also need to be replaced which has no discernible heating source.

So I know we should do it, but it adds several thousand to an already painful budget.

Can anyone give any negative viewpoints on underfloor heating? i.e. anyone who has had it and it's shit, costs loads and wish they had never bothered?

Anything I should consider when doing it before we make the final decision?

OP posts:
LizzieMacQueen · 13/09/2019 16:12

Leave one spot unheated for where your bin will go. Otherwise you'll be warming up your bin's contents.

We have it (our bin is in a large drawer) been down 4.5 years and no issues so far though I'm aware if something does go wrong it'll be an expensive mess.

Cohle · 13/09/2019 16:34

Ours takes forever to heat up and cool down. It's a real change in mindset from sticking on a quick blast of heating for an hour in the evening. I find the lack of flexibility really irritating.

fairislecable · 13/09/2019 16:38

Wet underfloor heating is really lovely using timer and thermostat. If you use stone or natural flooring it really holds the heat.

We have electric underfloor in a conservatory it works very well but is more expensive to run.

LazyFace · 13/09/2019 17:17

It's the most efficient way of heating, no radiators ans constant heat. I mean the wet system of course. I wish I had it in the whole house.
Not a different mindset here, ours is set to a temperature and will just kick in when needed.

GreenTulips · 13/09/2019 17:19

You can buy underfloor heating mats really cheaply. They can run off electric wor with your rads

Hecateh · 13/09/2019 17:25

Electric is cheaper to install and quicker to respond but is expensive to run.
Wet is expensive to install, slow to respond but cheap to run.

I have a new house with wet downstairs and electric upstairs.

I love it - the temperature seems so even around the room, no hotspots or cold spots and lovely warm feet.

MarieG10 · 13/09/2019 18:31

Don't get electric. The bills will bankrupt you.

The best and standard is wet underfloor heating. However, I'm not sure how you will do it as it needs laying in at least 50mm of screed and to be effective needs insulating boards under the pipes or the heat goes down as well as up. So I don't think it is a real option unless you have been told other

We do have it as part of a large extension including kitchen and sitting, dining area. It is a total delight. No roads on the wall, a lovely gentle heat rather than the intense blast from the radiators and I only wish we had it in the rest of the house downstairs. It is different though and as another poster said is less flexible and the on off times need to be different. For eg, ours goes off (or to a lower temp at 8pm

I would not pit any UFH in a building that isn't well insulated though as it does t have the capacity of normal rads, so an old conservatory wouldn't be great

Inferiorbeing · 14/09/2019 08:32

We bought a house with it, and have never once used it.. we usually just wear socks if we know itll be cold in there!

johnd2 · 14/09/2019 08:49

Your problem is that conservatories are not insulated to any regulations they're basically like a tent on the back of your house. You should have a set of external standard doors between the conservatory and kitchen to keep the heat in or out. Then things will be a lot better.
We knocked our conservatory down and replaced with an extension for that reason. If everything is done properly then you can heat the whole area cheaply with a small heater.

Fortheloveofscience · 14/09/2019 08:58

We’ve just re-done our kitchen including ripping up all the tiles and re-laying. Thought about underfloor heating but decided against because:

  1. Wet not an option because as well as digging up the tiles they would have had to remove 5-10cm of concrete from the floor subsurface. Everyone I’ve asked has confirmed that retro-fitting wet underfloor heating is not really an option.
  1. Cost of running electric mats.
  1. If/when the mats fail the only way to get to them is by taking up tiles. Having spent £££ on lovely floor tiles, I want them to last for years and don’t expect the mats’ lifespan to be as long.

IMO you’d be better off saving the money, paying a plumber to run pipes to fit a rad in your utility room and saving to upgrade your conservatory - sounds like this and not the heating source is really the problem.

greathat · 14/09/2019 09:17

Didn't do it if it's electric you're planning. Will cost a fortune to run. Water method though is super efficient

jackstini · 14/09/2019 09:24

We have electric and was brilliant, whilst it worked
Now 1 mat has broken, 1 is intermittent and the other seems to overheat
Can't sort it without ripping up a whole floor of tiles

Also is very expensive to run

I love the idea, but would go for a wet system next time

Sweetpeach3 · 14/09/2019 09:44

I LOVE MY FLOOR HEATING !!!!
I don't have a single radiator downstairs and it costs me about £1 a day to heat 3 separate rooms in the winter at most so it isn't as bad as I expected and that's with them on alllllll day. They go off around 2-4 but then on again until I go bed and come on at 5 so it's warm when we come down. I have tiles throughout my downstairs. I have it in my living room (1 floor circuit) then kitchen (2) then my conservatory (3)

It cost me around 7 grand in total and I have all touch screen gadgets (DH choice)

My main concern was what if it brakes because it cost me 15 thousand for my tiles alone and my tiler said it's a nightmare to remove 1 by 1 or even 1 room alone as it goes straight through
Also I don't wana pay that again ever ! But with a good brand etc you get a 10 year guarantee and they pay for any damage if it has to be fixed which is good !

I know it is pricey but it is sooo worth it !

Babdoc · 14/09/2019 09:56

I put electric underfloor heating in when I demolished a wall to make a through kitchen/diner, but I kept a standard central heating radiator on one wall.
I only use the underfloor in the winter, on a thermostat and timer. The rest of the year, the radiator (gas powered boiler) is perfectly adequate, but in winter the room used to be freezing, due to a concrete floor and a very high barn style ceiling, so all the heat just rose into the roof.
The underfloor has transformed it into a nice cosy room. The electricity bill doesn’t seem too much higher, and it’s well worth it for a warm livable room. I used to put the oven on and run a fan heater before meals, then decamp to the sitting room as soon as the meal was over!
There is a 10 year guarantee on the floor. The tiles are not wildly expensive, and I keep several spare ones in the garage in case any need lifted for heating maintenance, or get cracked.

Jessuk86 · 14/09/2019 21:50

We are having our whole house down but OH works for an underfloor heating company so it's the only way Haha! I'm looking forward to no radiators. Alot of new builds have this system now (wet) as it it's more efficient.

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