Benefits of warm water v's electric underfloor heating?

[tracyk]

Anyone know which I should go for or a web site that explains the pros and cons of each type?

I think the electric is better for a retro fit

I have it in 2 rooms and love it (tho' it is a bit heavy on the electric)

Once we had a house with warm water underfloor heating - blissful & no probs. Had a control centre on the wall of the boiler room - could adjust the taps for each area. Had about 10 or more small taps here & the pipes started from here as well. Loved the bathroom floor being warm!!

We are going to have one large living space (eventually) and are going to have to take up the flooring (floorboards at present) anyway. Electric sounds expensive to run - but I think gas is getting more expensive all the time isn't it?

What about running it from a wood burner?

Very eco and quite fuel efficient

I have both - warm water under a stone floor and electric on top of old floorboards and under coir carpet. I find that the warm water one heats up faster than the electric one which takes a good day to get going. The warm water one also seems to be able to get and keep the room warmer than the electric one, but that may be because the stone retains the heat nicely, the wing which is electric has higher ceilings etc...

Our system ran from oil & was very efficient.

Hi Katymac- just got some stuff thro from energy saving trust and they had info on the wood burning stoves. do you have experience of them? do you think one would be powerful enough for a huge open living space with vaulted ceilings?

I would have thought so - is the wood burner going to be in the same room as the U/F heating

Where is the chimney going to be (ie internally or on a external wall)

What size wood burner are you looking at Clearview are the best

The chimney is on an internal wall - albeit the hall next to the front door behind it. I'm not sure if the grant available would cover the UFH - the case studies sent through sounded like they just had the woodburning stoves and 'left the doors open between rooms' then the whole house was heated.

OK Grant isn't normally for a wood burning stove (which is a decorate item)

It is for wood burning boiler type things which use woodchips or pellets and are fantastically economical (if you can get the chips/pellets)

A stove would heat the room it is in plus the areas arround the chimney plus you can vent excess heat to upper floor - or if you want to be really clever, put a heat exchanger in the attic and use that heat as well

It would also heat your hot water when it's lit (ie winter) and if you conbine it with a passive solar hot water system - you could really minimise your heating costs and be very very green

This is cos wood is carbon neutral

thanks Katiemac - will seriously look at it as an option now.

Tracyk - how about a heat pump? if you've got a big enough garden then you lay coils underground and it works like a fridge in reverse - takes the cold from the ground and converts it into heat - works ideally with underfloor heating. You could be self sufficient if you had another source to provide electricity for the pump itself.

We're getting one installed v soon from \link{http://www.invisibleheating.co.uk/\Invisible Heating Systems}. The grant from the gov would cover that too. Although they're taking at least 3 months to come through atm.

Are you going to the homebuilder and renovation show at the SECC this weekend - all these types of companies will be there - (wood burning stoves too). Invisible heating people will give you free tickets if you want to go. We're going on the Saturday btw

oh good idea McMudda - I shall see if I can persuade dh to go. I thought the underground ones were £££££££

oh good idea McMudda - I shall see if I can persuade dh to go. I thought the underground ones were £££££££