will underfloor heating worth it?

shellyd_3

I am about to tile my kitchen/breakfast room floor. The floor is concrete and after reading up on U/F heating I worked out the price to be approx £500. £200 of this was for the thermal underlay.I just wanted something to take the chill off the kids feet in the winter, me being a penny watcher will only use it if we really need to.
I thought I could save if I didnt put the thermal boards down, has anyone else done this onto a concete floor and does it take a long time to heat up?
Shall I just get the kids to put socks under slippers and save the £500 or will I regret it?

Thanks

Michelle

wantodoitmyself

Thanks for this Michelle. I am also about to lay tiles in the kitchen and was considering U/F heating. Would also be interested in any replies.

JennyW_2

We've just moved into a flat and will be putting in a new bathroom. We talked over heated flooring but for the costs, I'd rather just wear slippers I think it's a lot of money just to have warm feet when you want a wee :rotfl:

andycarmi

We have underfloor heating. Its really good it warms the floor and the room!

It takes about 20 mins to get to the temp on the thermostat.

I guess we could live without it but I do miss it when its not on in the winter.

BobProperty

Alan M who posts occasionally on here was saying half the floor tiles he supplies these days are going onto heated floors. I suspect that it would be more efficient with the correct thermal underlay, but I'd wait for that to be confirmed by someone.

plumb1_2

shellyd wrote:

I thought I could save if I didnt put the thermal boards down, has anyone else done this onto a concete floor and does it take a long time to heat up?
Shall I just get the kids to put socks under slippers and save the £500 or will I regret it?

Thanks

Michelle

You need to use thermal board on a concrete floor.

Alan_M_2

The thermal underlay is a must it makes the system substantially more effecient, if you search on the net you'll find 10mm Marmox or similar for a sensible price. You can now get systems that are more powerful and will almost heat the room (200w cable systems).

Are they worth it? It's personal preference, it's one of those things like air conditioning in a car, once you've had it, you'll never not go without again.

Lord_Gardener

It's slippers for us and no compaints from the children - how reliable are these systems?

Alan_M_2

It' now closer to 70% of sales we make now are going onto floors with some form of underfloor heating.

The electrical systems are pretty simple, and simple makes them reliable, the most common reason for failure is damage during fitting, once fitted and cover in your chosen tile surface there's no reason for it to fail. Any control units and thermostats are replaceable easily if they should fail anyway.

tim_n

Apart from subsidance Alan M! ;- )

Underfloor heating can make your house look better without messy radiators everywhere but to be honest the main reason I've been looking at it is because of how much better for asthmatics it is! Less convection from certain areas in the room mean less pet hair and dust being circulated about. I'm probably looking at a geothermal & heat exchanger/pump which is much more expensive but penny saving in the future = )

Alan_M_2

Agree, the plumbed in type is a bigger outlay initially but far more effecient long term, only worth while if you plan to stay in your house for at least a decade though.