Underfloor heating vs radiators in loft conversion

[Needacoat]

Am currently doing a loft conversion and am trying to weigh up between having electric underfloor heating in the loft bedrooms (2 small doubles) vs radiators. Loft bedrooms are small so UFH will help to save wall space and furniture placement can be more flexible.

I know that the general consensus a few years ago was that electric UFH is cheaper to install but very expensive to run. Is this still the case?

With the change to renewable energy and the phasing out of gas boilers I just don't know what the best way to heat the loft so it's "future proof"!

A friend put storage heaters in the loft because the central heating system wasn't suitable to go up an extra floor and that has all the problems of not getting heat when you need it and too much when you don't, although it is ok in winter when the demand is fairly consistent.

She wishes she had gone with UFH because of the wall space issues you mention.

Probably the best thing you can do if the choice is not clear is to make sure the insulation is as good as can be.

That's very helpful @Melroses. I also think that there is advantage in not pushing the heating system up another floor. My friends who have recently done similar loft conversion seem to agree that the loft is generally warm in winter with heat rising from the downstairs rooms so I am hoping that UFH would be sufficient.

Another thing that I have just remembered she said was the heat in summer. They have velux windows which helps cool it, but it is noisy in the summer. The insulation is important then too.

They are people who were well up with building regs at the time but probably most of their money went on timbers, as the floor has its own joists, to reduce noise in the rooms below.

I worry about the heat too, but feel that installing air conditioning for just a few days of the year seems too extravagant!