Underfloor heating in whole house viable?

HelpMeMove

Hi,

we'll be replacing the heating system in our house and are considering underfloor heating (gas powered) throughout replacing the radiators completely.

It's a 5 bedroom house, 2 large reception rooms. Hallway and receptions rooms will have wooden flooring and bedreooms carpetted.

Our fear is it won't keep the house warm or take too long to warm up.

Would appreciate any comments or experiences you have had.

Thanks in advance.

Bikertov

We have underfloor in the kitchen - it is a hot water system, with a circuit running of the heating system and it gives a lovely warmth under foot.

Running costs - in theory, the water temperature can be cooler than for radiators, which is why it is well suited to solar water heating systems. And the heating is more even across the room, and being at floor level the heat rises.

However, underfloor is best put in with a solid floor, so that it acts like a giant storage heater. It does not work too well under suspended (timber) floors.

Because of the way it works, it is not so instantly controlable as radiators.

david29dpo

I fitted a system to a house a similar size to yours. It is slow to warm up and slow to cool down but the house was very comfortable. It has stats in every room (a bit like TRVs but much better. The running costs where higher (in this case) Do you have solid ground floors?

theonlywayisup

We have UFH (water via oil boiler) in our barn conversion. It does not take long to heat up, but in reality you should have it on all the time as an ambient background heat, that way the house never feels cold. Each room has a digital stat so we can adjust the 'zone' up or down on the 'base temperatur'. It is economical to run. We fitted ours during the conversion and have limestone floors. I do not know how cost effective a retro fit would be, nor do I have any idea how it would be with wood floors. Ours came from http://www.renenergy.co.uk/underfloor-heating.aspx which may be able to give answers particularly suited to your home/fit.

HelpMeMove

Thanks for taking time out to reply.

Downstairs is solid ground throughout and upstairs suspended wooden floor under carpet. Maybe the better option then is radiators upstairs (as its carpetted too) and underfloor downstairs?

Bikertov

Underfloor on a solid floor is best embedded into the slab, to give the storage heating effect. Bear in mind, theidea is to heat a mass with a good thermal storage capacity.

So just a retro-fit ontop of a solid floor is not as effective. Best take professional advice from a reputable fitter.

robv_3

Why are you thinking of installing underfloor heating?

In most cases it is extremely expensive to do a good retro fit.

suisidevw

My parents downstairs is UFH only, lovely stuff!

gteuk

robv wrote: »

Why are you thinking of installing underfloor heating?

In most cases it is extremely expensive to do a good retro fit.

Underfloor heating can be expensive to retro fit but there is also cost effective ways to do it, if installed correctly then underfloor heating can be very efficient to run compared to other heating forms.

Before looking at the heating though it is better to look at the insulation of the property as this is key.

In a number of occasions electric underfloor heating has shown to be a cost effective solution due to response times etc.

Some will argue a kilowatt is a kilowatt and whatever energy you put in you get out, they are right but they are also wrong, it is not about how much energy is required it is how it is most effectivly distributed.

If you have a system with massive coverage of the floor area directly under the flooring it will be more effective and controllable than a system buried into a screed..

There is a story of someone reducing their overall household bills down to £32 a month by installing electric underfloor heating, saying that though I would say only the ribbon or carbon heating can distribute this heat effectively.

tonycamps

A cheaper and more effective solution than underfloor heating is Thermaskirt heated skirting boards

knowloads

I worked for a flooring co that offered this (electric) as an option. I never found it worked well on upstairs, wood floors as the wood is not a good conductor. The floor acts as a storage heater on solid floors, but again better as a comfortable floor on wood or tiles, but above 3ft there was little advantage if heat has to get through carpet and underlay first.