Should I get underfloor heating?

[kitchenplanner]

We're doing a big renovation project to the kitchen dining room, which is 30m squared. We're considering putting in underfloor heating. Can anyone share how much they paid (per m squared), and whether they went for water or electric-based? Would you recommend it?

I've been doing research but people seem to mostly use them for bathrooms (which are a lot smaller). I'm worried a room of our size is going to be bankruptive!

@mobear what are you leaning towards? Have you had it costed?

@kitchenplanner We’re going to have it costed as part of the tender and see where we land. The thing that really appeals to me is not losing wall space, as we are losing a lot of wall space to built-in furniture and sliding doors. If it weren’t for that, I don’t think I’d bother considering it.

We have wet underfloor heating in around 40sqm of extension and existing house. It was around £4k to install last year. We have been really pleased with it so far and have not had any problems. A big factor in our cost was insulating under the existing floor and getting the level to match with the extension. We had to have quite thin insulation under it in order to get the levels to match. It is in two zones and feels really luxurious. I am looking forward to winter so I can turn it on again.

@Pokhora thanks for this. Is it electric or water?

Sorry you said wet!

Yes water. This was when it was being laid in the extension. Screed was then poured over the top.

In the existing house thermopanel was used underneath the pipes and latex over the top to level it.

The latex and screed were then tiled with porcelain tiles.

We have underfloor heating in our whole house, 10 years now and all fine so far. Love it and wouldn't change it, however it takes a day or so for any heating adjustment (increase or decrease) to kick in.

My friend had it in a large farmhouse kitchen,/ breakfast room and said you had to leave it on to get any effect from it ( ie, no instant warmth) and it cost a bomb. She liked the feeling of warmth underfoot though.

We are having wet UFH put in our new kitchen. Approx 25-30sqm. It will cost £900 for materials, and then labour on top but not sure how much that will be as they’re doing it as part of the wider building work

I am obsessed with our underfloor heating. We had it put in the kitchen last year when we were renovating it. I disagree that thick socks have the same effect! Had no problems so far. We already had Hive installed so the underfloor connects to that BUT we used a separate thermostat and controller thing, as underfloor takes a different amount of time to heat up compared to radiators, if that makes sense. Do it!

@hollygoflightly how big is your kitchen and what was the cost if you don't mind me asking?

@kitchenplanner it's about 6 metres by 5 and was £2,200 but that included installing a new boiler (but not the cost of the boiler)

As in £2200 for materials and installation for around 30m sq? Wow I'm shocked at how cheap it is!

I have underfloor heating and love it. But it didn't cost me much really as it was part of the kitchen renovation (complete renovation including new floors) and the builder gave it to me for free (possibly because he got so much money out of me for other things).

It isn't noticeable on my bills as I have the water based type.

Dry underfloor heating. Quite expensive to run. Despite porcelain tiles it cools off fast (minimal "heat sink" effect) so has to be going constantly. I love the warm floor but wish I'd gone with wet. But couldn't afford it and had already maxed out all borrowing.

@Itsnotdeep wow great negotiation, well done for getting it for free!!

@kitchenplanner yes I think so! I'm not the best record keeper but that's what my reno spreadsheet tells me

We have wet UFH downstairs. Been in 14 years and no issues. Lovely even heat. Make sure it goes slightly under where your kitchen units will be so you don’t get cold toes when standing at the worktop! It’s best if it’s kept at a consistent heat all day, then turned lower at night as it’s much less controllable/responsive than radiators ie it would take hours to heat from stone cold. Good if you’re in the house all day. Less so if you come in from work at 6pm and don’t want to heat it while you’re out. I wouldn’t get electric in a big space, much too expensive to run.

What happens if it breaks? I get that you'll have to lift up the wooden flooring, but what about the kitchen units?

Once the pipes are laid in screed they are exceptionally unlikely to break from what I understand. The pipes then come out the screed in the floor and connect into a manifold in the cupboard that controls the system and the only breakage we’ve had is a valve at the manifold needing replaced. I’ve never heard of a leak for example in the pipes laid in the screed. Phone some installers and ask lots of questions to get a feel for it.

I've recently moved into a house that has wet under floor heating in the kitchen/family room, can anyone tell me how the hell to work it?! It was on at the viewing in March and was lovely and I'd like it on when it gets cooler.
I have a thermostat, currently off, what temperature do i set it to and when?
There are 2 units under the stairs, one has water pipes and taps, the other has lights on it, some go on and off during heating, others are always on.
Do i need my radiator heating on to make it work? The heating and hot water are on on the boiler but radiators off via their thermostat (separate one to the UFH)

@ineedaholidayandwine its hard to give specific guidance but try turning it on before bedtime and see in the morning if the temperature is right. If too high turn it down a notch. If too cold either leave it for longer or try turning up a notch. Wet UFH is like a massive storage heater. It takes an age to get to temperature but then holds the heat for a long time. If you’ve tried and nothing happens you’re probably not giving it king enough to take effect. I wouldn’t have thought your radiators would need to be on for the UFH to work.

@daisymoo2 thank you, will give that a try once it gets cooler

If it’s any help, we’ve just costed out and purchased enough for our new extension and front room.
We were quoted just over £1000 by the screed company to supply and lay underfloor heating to our 40smq extension, but DP is a competent diyer and said no way that’s too expensive so he’s bought the kit himself and will lay it himself prior to screeding.
We paid just over £400 for enough kit to cover the extension and also our small front room. So it’s basically cost us the same as we would’ve paid for radiators. He was adamant he doesn’t want cold feet anymore 😂

We put wet underfloor heating in our extension 4 years ago, about the same size as you are planning, and it's brilliant. I love it. We have ceramic tiles on top