Pros and cons of underfloor heating

firbyfred

We have got outline planning permission to convert a single storey barn into a 3 bedroomed cottage, we would like to put a water underfloor heating system using an oil fired boiler, How will this compared to using radiators, for price of installing and running costs? (or electric underfloor heating, I have heard that it is more expensive in more than 1 room)
The old concrete floors etc are going to be taken out anyway.
I would appreciate any comments, thanks

adaze

Its more efficent at heating than radiators, though it does depend on the space you have to heat. Also depends if you use electric over plumbed.

We have plumbed underfloor heating and prefer it to radiators, you don't get the "direct" heat that you feel from a radiator, but the room is a more consitent temperature.

jonesjw

Electric is about 4x the price of gas. I suspect it must be more than 2~3 times the price of oil, so that's expensive in the long term.

firbyfred

I was talking to a heating engineer today, he said that because of the stage we were at it would be cheaper to install the plumbed underfloor system,
I am in the building trade myself, have been since 1974! always worked for an employer, been in maintenance for the last 15, so i am not up to speed with the latest building techniques, but what I have read about plumbed underfloor heating, I could lay a lot of the pipework myself.

lisal0u

Hi,

We have just installed carbon film UF heating downstairs (about 35m2). Fairly cheap to buy (£1000 inc underlay and thermostats) and we could install it ourselves apart from hooking it up to the mains of course!

I did quite a lot of research and the view seems to be that electricity is more expensive but the heating is more efficient then gas so it actually costs slightly less to run!

I will let you know when it gets cold as we haven't needed to have it on yet!

Good luck!

AdrianW2

Have you considered a ground source heat pump? Very expensive initially (although you can take off the cost of an oil boiler and tank) but cheaper to run and they work well with wet underfloor heating.

Cardew

lisal0u wrote: »

Hi,


I did quite a lot of research and the view seems to be that electricity is more expensive but the heating is more efficient then gas so it actually costs slightly less to run!

I don't know where you did that research???

Electricity is indeed 100% efficient at producing heat.

A gas boiler is anything from 65% efficient for an old boiler, to 90+% efficient for a modern condensing boiler.

However a kWh of electricity cost approx 3 times as much as a kWh of gas.

So electricity will always be twice to three times more expensive to run than gas.

lisal0u

I researched on the internet so it could all be lies!

I researched that it would cost £3 to £4/m2 per year to heat, mine covers approx 35m2 so £140/year then the cost of 4 radiators on gas upstairs.

We chose it because we didn't have room for radiators and didn't seem like it was going to cost the earth to run. It was very easy to install and I love the idea of having warm floors to walk on! We will see come winter!

AdrianW2

Cardew wrote: »

...
So electricity will always be twice to three times more expensive to run than gas.

That's a fairly simplistic analysis. In a wet system you're heating water, pipes and masonry for the first few minutes rather than the people, the whole thing runs at a higher temperature so the temperature gradient to the outside is higher, the radiators are situated close to the cold walls and so dump a lot of heat outside and radiators don't heat where the people are.

On top of that you've got the extra cost of fixing a boiler and rads when they break.

Long term, gas is going to get more expensive and come from further away.

brig001

We have wet underfloor heating in 70mm screed and yes you can do it all yourself - I did. I have found that due high thermal mass, it needs a bit of planning to get the best out of it. If the rooms are going to be permanently occupied, there's no problem, if not, you will need to give it up to 1/2 hour to really start giving heat, so timers need to be set early.

If I was doing it again, I would probably try a low thermal mass system with something like (bottom to top) Celotex / ply / 2x2 framework to enclose pipes and spreader plates / flooring grade chipboard. This should warm up a lot quicker and be better for maintenance in case of leaks.

HTH,
Bri.

chunkfly

Hi, we are new to this and find all your comments interesting as we are shortly moving and will be refurbishing. There is no gas so its oil or electric UFH, as we have to buy a boiler and a oil storage tank we are more leaning toward electric although more expensive. would appreciate any comments and advice on this.

chunkfly