Wunda underfloor heating?

[arabellaL]

Does anyone have this, specifically the rapid response? Have had a quote from them and if their claims are to be believed, seem almost too good to be true! Looking to install in a large open plan kitchen/diner/snug

Hopeful bump?

Hi, @arabellaL you don't say what type (retrofit /newbuild) but we have Wunda retrofit underfloor heating. Because the pipes are not set in masses of concrete the response time is pretty quick but would be dependent on the floor covering you want. We have laid it ourself throughout the ground floor (about 100 m2) and have put both solid wood parquet laminate flooring over it. I guess ceramic tiles would take longer to heat up but also will retain heat better.

Laying it isn't quite as straightforward as all the various manufacturers videos show but we are glad we did it.

Thanks for responding! Ours will be retrofit too - we have a concrete basefloor that will be screeded to level and then heating boards, then likely engineered wood. What would you say is the heat up time and how are your heating costs in comparison to regular radiator?

With wood/laminate we feel the underfoot in about ten/fifteen minutes but it takes longer to heat the whole room (as does a radiator).

Because the heat is generated throughout the room there aren't hotspots/coldspots as with radiators and so generally the thermostats are set lower than with traditional heating. It costs less than radiators but difficult to say how much by as heating prices have been all over the place in recent years (only had our UFH a couple of years).

With UFH it is best to have the heat on all the time and control heat via the thermostats, heating then only kicks in when the temperature drops below the level set. We use the app to control the thermostats as have five zones, it makes it quick and easy to boost/turn down.

If you're in the north east of the country you are welcome to see it in action.

@arabellaL came across your thread. We're trying to decide whether to put in Wunda rapid response UFH in our open plan kitchen/dining/living. If you happen to see this I'd love to know if you went ahead with it? And if it has been a good decision?

@fuelledbycaffeine3 I have had the wundafloor retrofit system for more than 10yrs now and was installed as part of a whole-house renovation. Absolute game-changer. Tiled floor downstairs and carpet upstairs. Things you need to consider:

1. all doors and skirting boards need to come up in the area you are fitting into
2. choose hardwired thermostats not wireless especially if it is being installed in an old house with thicker walls etc.

mine is linked to an oil boiler but we hope to move to renewables as part of another remodel in the coming years. I’d check that the size of pipe work that you are considering would be compatible with renewable/lower energy sources moving forward.

Thanks @Netaporter, that's great to hear. We will be removing all doors and skirting anyway so that suits. Ours will also be attached to an oil boiler. My main concern was around efficiency in a retrofit. Our house is only 20 years old but I have no idea if there is any insulation in the floors (solid floor) and I'm concerned that we could lose a lot of heat escaping downwards into the floor. Do you know if your floor had insulation before you added the wunda flooring?

@fuelledbycaffeine3 i live in an old house so heat loss was a major factor. Retrofit Wundafloor is designed for this. I used to live in a similar property but attached to a gas boiler. I can confirm that the current house is significantly warmer and we spend less comparing apples for apples with the UFH system in comparison with rads.

Hello @Netaporter and @fuelledbycaffeine3 - I've been following this thread as we have been thinking about the same for our newly bought property and was wondering if @fuelledbycaffeine3 went with it in the end?

Our house is 40yo and has concrete underneath which we read was not a bad insulator, but we just had a plumber in and he was quite against installing UFH in such an old property, saying we would have a fair amount of heat loss, and that it costs so much more to run and keep warm compared to radiators.

We would like the entire ground floor to have UFH and were quoted a very low price by Wunda which is pretty scary compared to how expensive it is to do it properly.

Have you been able to find proper reviews about Wunda or any unhappy customer?

Thanks for reading!

@Cherubimbum have you had any issues since you installed it?
and @arabellaL did you apply to floor levelling screed on top of the boards + pipes? What brand did you use? And do you remember how much it raised your floor? Thanks a lot!!

@Myriampuchalt I’m not sure what you are looking for in terms of answers? Wunda floor reduced the costs of running our house significantly in comparison with our last house which had radiators. And we use heating oil now which is more expensive than gas. I don’t work for Wundafloor and I am not affiliated to them in any way. I have had it for more than 10 years though and have had no issues with it.

I also don’t understand why you refer to doing UFH ‘properly’ - UFH are simply the collective term for water-filled pipes or electrical wiring looms laid underfoot which connect to your heating source or electricity. There are no ‘proper’ systems. There are 3 types - pipes laid in a floor and screeded over (usually concrete and usually in a new build or rebuild/major renovation and a nightmare if you develop a leak); Retrofit Over-floor UFH systems such as Wundafloor or the Electric Mat type systems you find in tiling shops which are mostly used in smaller areas. Each have their pros and cons. I’ve no idea what the going rate for retrofit systems is or in comparison with other firms but Wundafloor are really good at what they do, provide everything you need with ease and are generally helpful to both customers and installers.

As an analogy I have owned Land Rovers and Kia 4 x 4 vehicles. The former is sold in smaller quantities, is expensive, has questionable customer service and breaks down (a lot) and the latter is cheaper, sold in mass quantities has a 7 year warranty and has never broken down so I don’t need to test their customer service!

Happy to answer any other questions you might have!

I’d also add that Wundafloor give you all of the info regarding tog rating for floor coverings. I have plywood then tiles downstairs and then plywood followed by carpet upstairs. No screed necessary.

@Netaporter thanks for this! It was super helpful.

Yeah, when I meant "properly", I was talking about the way you do it in new builds, with a layer of insulation underneath the concrete, and then the pipes laid in the floor and screeded over, which has a better heat retention.

I'm glad to hear you've had no issues with it in 10 years and also got your running costs reduced. This is valuable information. Thanks!!

@Myriampuchalt I’d also add that we had to go through at least 10 plumbers before we found one who would attempt to fit it and he turned out to be an absolute grade A arsehole… A cheery plumber is a rare find, a plumber willing to try something new even rarer. You’ll have them all telling you about running costs, spouting shite about lost heat etc based upon….absolutely no evidence whatsoever. Wundafloor retrofit comes with reflective backing plate which reflect some of the heat back upwards.

Benefits for us - an even temp in every room. Furniture placement is easy. No need to be concerned about where the windows are.

No issues with heating apart from a faulty mixer valve which we discovered when installing and Wunda replaced without question, we received it the next day. Wunda technical dept are very helpful.

Just to add we installed the UFH ourselves - doable by a competent DIYer.

Hi there, I am looking to install wunda rapid response aluminium heat boards on top of a suspended timber floor in a retro fit extension. We have been told that we can tile directly on top of the aluminium boards as long as the recommended primer is used but my tiler has done this before and suggested it will fail. He’s suggesting adding a 3mm ditra matting between which should stop any issues. @Netaporter was this the system you used in your house 10 years ago? Is the heat output good and are your tiles still in tact? The subfloor will be 22mm chipboard. All advice welcome please. Really stuck between this and the traditional castellated panel and screws option…

Do you or anyone else on this forum have any experiences to share on how the UFH experience is with carpet compared to laminate/wood/tile?

We used the specified mapei adhesive as per Wundafloor’s instructions and the tiles were laid on top of ply from memory. No ditra mat (which all tilers love but it is dearer than gold 😂) tiles are still in tact 10 years later and are 60 x 60 high gloss porcelain.

Wundafloor were excellent to work with and will give you the max tog rating you can lay before effectiveness is reduced. Not sure if ditra mat would affect this aspect. We also had hard wired thermostats rather than wireless as it is an old house and this was the advice of both the plumber and electrician who was not convinced the signal would be unaffected by the wall thickness etc.

HTH!

@Netaporter any feedback on how it worked with your carpet? Planning to use with carpet so keen to hear if you have done this too.

Yep, made sure we made a note of the maximum tog rating and then had carpet and underlay on top of ply. My ground floor is tiled, the first floor is carpeted (except for bathrooms which are also tiled )

@Netaporter thanks! how is the heating efficiency with carpet - are you happy with it?

Yes. I’d never go back to rads. The house is a constant temperature all year round. We owned a similar house with rads and it was considerably colder in the winter.

@BeQuirkySquid just to advise also that wet UFH systems provide a constant temp as monitored by the room thermostats. Unless it is very cold or it is warming to the set room temp, you won’t find the floors ‘on’ but the house won’t be cold either.

Also you get used to not leaving stuff on the floor - such as selection boxes under the Xmas tree 😂

So glad to have found this thread, thank you!