UFH - digging up concrete floors

[GardensandGrandDesigns]

Hiya has anyone any experience of this? We have an air source heat pump so as part of our renovating we plan to install ufh upstairs and downstairs and get rid of all radiators. Only problem is we don't have high ceilings so think our only option is to dig down. The builder looked in pain when we told him. Are we mad?

yes, you probably are.

can you do skirting board heating downstairs?

Yes, nuts. Check out the Vaillant aroTherm and Daikin Altherma HT which can both run at temperatures compatible with radiators.

Do you currently have insulation under your concrete floor? If not you would need to dig it up anyway...

We have retrofitted water UFH downstairs in a 70s house with standard ceiling height. Google low profile UFH and you'll see the insulated panels and pipes are only about 25mm high.

Also for the upstairs look at Omnie panels which form a structural floor in their own right so no additional buildup. I have recently installed these.

That made me wince, will you be moving out? We've had a rewire which involved drilling through the concrete floors (upstairs) and the mess was unbelievable.

Yes we are moving out for 6 months!

@vera16

Do you currently have insulation under your concrete floor? If not you would need to dig it up anyway...

Yes, this. We dug out a concrete floor so that we could re-do the damp proofing (it was shit and no longer working) and insulate at the same time. The original floor was essentially straight onto bare earth. We went about three feet down from the original floor level I think, and relaid the lot - hardcore, sand, damp proof membrane, insulation, concrete. Messy and time consuming but not difficult (we didn't have a builder, DH just did it himself with some hired tools and a large bucket to cart out the rubbish to the skip on the drive) so your builder is being a bit unreasonable.

If you are going for air source heat pump for eco reasons than you need to insulate under the house or it's not really worth it, surely?

Yes, I can't imagine it being well insulated. I think you've answered my question that digging down and insulating well is the right thing to do. Awaiting the quote to find out how much that will cost...

Thank you everyone for your replies.

We retrofitted UFH in our concrete floors downstairs last year. It was v straightforward. They use a very clever machine that carved out the grooves for the pipes and sucks up the dust as it goes. I could only find two companies in the UK that did this and we went with the one that covers most of the UK, JK Heating it was called.

@SirSamVimesCityWatch agree that its not that bad to dig up a concrete floor. I watched my builder do my kitchen in day. Big powered wrecking tool type thing. Its a messy noisy job though which is probably why your builder doesn't want to do it. You definitely need insulation or you will be paying to heat the earth under your house! (don't let the builder tell you otherwise - mine told me this was not the case because 'heat rises').

Thank you, we will persevere!