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Original poster

underfloor heating - any one got it ?

39 replies

throckenholt · 29/01/2006 10:48

We are building an extension and trying to decide if underfloor heating would be a good idea or not. Does anyone have it ? Do you love it or hate it ? How long does it take to heat up ? And (technical question from DH) - what is the construction type ?

OP posts:

bambi06 · 29/01/2006 10:53

ill be watching this with interest as were thinking of it fo rour kitchen ..sorry no help i know

Original poster

throckenholt · 29/01/2006 10:58

no probs - we can both bump it until we find someone with an answer

OP posts:

tamula · 29/01/2006 11:02

sorry we havent got it, but we do have a pipe that runs under the kitchen floor that gets really hot when the rads are on, i tend to ocassionally stand on it

Original poster

throckenholt · 29/01/2006 11:38

OP posts:

mumfor1sttime · 29/01/2006 12:27

I wish

chipkid · 29/01/2006 12:28

I have underfloor heating-it is the only heating in my house and has been down since 1977!!!! plus side is that it feels gorgeous underfoot (absolutely essential with stone floors IMO)
downside it can be expensive; if something goes wrong-the floor has to come up!!!!!
We are having some extensive work done to the house soon and we plan to renew the underfloor heating-thing the modern systems are better

poppiesinaline · 29/01/2006 12:49

Wish we did have! My sister has it in her kitchen and it is loverrllly! We all stand in her kitchen in bare feet and chat with cups of tea! Best thing ever I think.

zubb · 29/01/2006 12:54

We've just had it laid in our new extension, but not connected yet - should be able to answer you in a couple of weeks! We've got tubes that wind around on the floor - laid in a plastic holding tray, and connected to a manifold in a cupboard in the utility room. It's in 2 new rooms and each is a different 'zone' so that we can control them seperatly on room thermostats.
They tested it under double pressure for about 5 hours before they put the concrete scree down to be sure that there weren't any problems, and with the concrete on top it's highly unlikely that there will be any problems with th etubing.

I wanted it down as I don't like radiators - they make moving furniture around really awkward and I wanted clear walls.

Will let you know how we get on!

jazal · 29/01/2006 20:57

how much does it cost? we are house hunting at the moment. one of the house we saw has a conservatory with underfloor heating but the vendors said it wasn't working and need to be repaired. said it was an easy repair. but not sure how much it would cost. does anyone know?

katymac · 29/01/2006 21:01

Mine is electric - expensive - but heavenly I love it

It's great with kids (the heat is on their level)

It cost about £1800 for a room 25 ft by 12ft

Another room cost £900 for 16ft by 12ft

HTH

Earlybird · 29/01/2006 21:12

I have it in my bathroom, and it's wonderful. Wish I had put it in dd's bathroom, as the tiles there are beautiful, but freezing in the winter. It's a luxury that you'll enjoy every day for at least half the year...

Pip · 29/01/2006 21:14

We´re looking into this too. Does anyone have it with an wooden floor? I think it´s possible but it´s not as efficient.

jenkel · 29/01/2006 21:29

We have it in our conservatory and I love it, we have a tiled floor, generally keep it on all the time as it does take a while for the heat to penetrate the tiles, its got a thermostat so only comes on when its cold enough. The conservatory is used as a playroom so its ideal as the kids are on the floor most of the time, we have been through a very cold winter with that as the only heat out there and its been fine, probably not as toasty as the main house but certainly good enough for the kids to play in, taking into account they arent out there late at night. Ours is like a mat with tiny wires going through, had to lay a something underneath, to reduce the heat going downwards, laid the mat over and then tiled (I think). We have a pipe that also goes into the floor which they can put a sensor down, and if it ever fails apparently they can pinpoint which bit to save pulling up the whole floor.

A friend had a conservatory built the same time as us, to be used as a playroom too and they didnt have underfloor heating and I think she now regrets it.

If we had tiles laid anywhere else I would go for it again.

MrsSpoon · 29/01/2006 21:32

We've got it in the kitchen, under slate tiles. It is electric and DH did it himself, bought the stuff from either Wickes or B&Q, cost about £200 IIRC and is fantastic, I don't know what we will do if it ever breaks though as DH says the tiles are never coming back up again.

ernest · 30/01/2006 08:37

we have it in whole house. dunno how much it cost as built in with house. have mostly tiles with wood in bedrooms. It';s apparently very economical. Also wonderful. I really noticed when staying with relatived how boiling it was near radiator & cold on other side of room. Maybe their system is just crap but really noticed how wonderful & even the heat is in our house in comparison. Also nice not to have radiator0.s limiting furniture position in every room. don't think I have any negatives about it.

lapsedrunner · 30/01/2006 08:45

We have it throughout the house, all wooden floors plus tiles in kitchen, bathroom & loo. Runs on gas, reasonable to run (provided entire house is well insulated). No idea how much it cost as house is rented and was built in 2003.

In winter I was advised it was more economical to have on all the time (daytime only), rather than morning & evening as it takes time to heat up.

I cannot feel it at all underfoot on the wooden floor and only a little bit on tiles if the door has been shut.

Only disadvantage I have found is having no radiators to dry things on!

fairyjay · 30/01/2006 09:06

We have a large tiled kitchen, with underfloor heating, and we all love it.

Only been in for 18 mths., so no maintenance probs yet, but I suspect it will be a fairly major thing when they come!

Electric - so pretty expensive.

Original poster

throckenholt · 30/01/2006 09:10

thanks guys - that really helps.

When you say electric - so you mean electric cables running under the floor ? We are looking at a hot water system - with hot water pipes running under the floor.

OP posts:

Anchovy · 30/01/2006 09:15

We have a stone floor in the kitchen with underfloor heating. Love it. The children actually lie down on it to play with things, read etc. If you drop Play-doh on the floor you have to rescue it immediately or it dries out. similarly cooking splashes and food spillages have to be wiped up quickly or they set and bake on.

hub2dee · 30/01/2006 09:16

We've got electric wires to bathroom / ensuite below tiles. Go for a programmable thermostat so you can time when the thing is operating. Many also 'learn' how long floor takes to heat up so you can optimise use. Construction is Joists > Floorboards > Thick Marine Ply > Wires in tile cement > more tile cement > Tile.

geekgrrl · 30/01/2006 09:22

we have it throughout the house. it's a lovely form of heat, very subtle and even. ours is under stone tiles as well as real-wood laminate and normal laminate. It won't work well under solid wood flooring, the wood insulates too well.
Ours is expensive to run because the house was so badly built with loads of huge gaps but we're working on the draught problems. I presume that central heating wouldn't have been much cheaper.

Original poster

throckenholt · 30/01/2006 09:29

ok - another question - does it work under carpet ? I think we will probably have it under tiles in the kitchen diner, but I want carpet in the living room. DH says if we do it we do the whole ground floor (new kitchen diner extension and existing living room).

OP posts:

geekgrrl · 30/01/2006 09:33

I'm not sure, it would have to be very thin carpet. Best talk to an underfloor heating supplier.

tracyk · 30/01/2006 09:37

My mum investigated ufh under carpet and the chap said that you had to be very careful where you put your furniture unless I guess you would have to put wires then a layer of chipboard or something as the legs of a sofa etc would maybe sit on a wire??

fairyjay · 30/01/2006 09:49

I think that it would be fine under carpet - but it would still need to be well enclosed in a concrete screed, and the carpet laid on top.

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