Underfloor heating - yes or no?

[BigFattyBoomBoom]

We are doing a full kitchen renovation soon, including new flooring etc. The big question is, do we go for underfloor heating?

Anyone got it in their kitchen diner? Do you love it, or regret it?

I assume if we had underfloor heating in there we wouldn't also need a radiator?

Would appreciate views and opinions on people who have gone for it and whether you think its worth it and a good idea. 👌

We would have done it if we'd had space for wet underfloor heating, but were advised that an electric mat would be rubbish and expensive to run.

Love it. And it frees up the walls for whatever furniture you want

We have it - it’s great, no regrets. It’s a wet system. No need for a radiator, it can take a little longer to warm the space than radiators but not drastically, the warm floors are just lovely.

Thank you. We have rented holiday cottages with it installed in the past and I have really loved it. DH thinks it will be expensive to run. But I really like the idea of it and think it will be great for where we are planning to have it.

We have wet underfloor heating in our kitchen diner and I love it. Wish we could have it in the whole house. Its much better than radiators.

Depends whether it is wet or electric.

Electric is ruinously expensive to run. Wet very expensive to install and horrible if it breaks.

It's probably mostly about whether you have the spare cash to do it and whether it gives you vfm, which are questions really only you can answer.

Yes, love it. We have the kitchen diner with underfloor heating. Then you walk into the living room and it's noticeably cold underfoot.

We have it. It’s great. No radiators to clog up the walls and it’s really effective. We have it in one very large room, and it’s by far the warmest room in the house.

Just don’t drop anything on it! Especially chocolate and weetabix, it will melt and dry like concrete .

Yes to wet, firm no to electric.

Absolutely love it (wet ufh not electric)

Have electric in a reasonably large kitchen. It’s very expensive to run so wouldn’t have it again. I do have a large tall radiator as well which I’m glad I have as it seems to be very powerful. I do use the underfloor heating but I’m careful with it in terms of the temp and amount of time it’s on.

I've got it in the bathroom. Lovely. If I ever get round to a new kitchen. I will definitely get it in there.

We have wet UFH heating in our lounge and kitchen. It does give a lovely even heat, and it’s nice not to have radiators.

BUT.

Both those rooms are south-facing, with sliding glass patio doors the whole width of the rooms.

Even though all the glass is specially treated to keep the heat from the sun out (and it does work reasonably well), on a sunny winter day the rooms can still get nice and toasty, and the ufh will turn off because the thermostat says the room is warm enough. Which is fine.

Except that as soon as the sun goes down, the room temperature drops off really quickly, too quickly for the UFH to respond in time. And so you have a period of time in the early evening when you are shivering in the lounge waiting for the ufh to get the room up to temperature - it takes a lot longer than with radiators.

It can be very annoying. So if you have a similar set up, then I would proceed with caution - or at least ask the right questions of the ufh supplier.

I would never have tiled floors without it

We recently renovated a derelict property. Other than the odd weekend camping on the floor, we never lived in the house beforehand.

We have a wet system heated via gas. We have large tiled flooring throughout the downstairs with a few rugs. I love it! We have no radiators down stairs at all and the flooring keeps it warm enough, without feeling really hot on your feet. Pleasantly warm compared to outside, but not roasting hot. In the upstairs bathrooms we have electric underfloor heating, but rarely use it.

We had wet underfloor in the kitchen / dining area in our last house. Absolutely bliss. In winter it would be on for 2 hours in the early morning and it would be warm when we came downstairs and stay warm until evening.

i don’t recognise what pp said about not spilling stuff. I had babies and toddlers flinging all sorts around, wiped and mopped the floor all the time.

No radiators taking up wall space. Good even temperature. I would definitely do it again.

I have wet underfloor heating downstairs and love it. You have to plan a bit more in advance but the warmth without hot or cold spots is fantastic.
Upstairs I have electric and I wouldn't recommend it. Expensive and takes ages to get to even a reasonable temperature.

We have underfloor heating downstairs. It's lovely and warms the rooms evenly.
No dusty, unsightly radiators either!

I know a lot of people advice against electric as its "expensive" to run. And I agree with that. But things are changing fast in the energy market and we have since installed solar panels that have more than halved our bills. Gas as a commodity will eventually be more expensive than electricity that you can generate yourself 3/4 of the year.

Moving to a home with underfloor heating in the next few weeks. Was dubious, couldn’t quite get my head around it. We’ve had a crossover period, owning two homes so experienced the heating during stays.

Really like it now. Would recommend.