Underfloor heating

joanne1971

I am thinking of getting the eletric underfloor heating under a tiled largish kitchen floor. Any advice?

joanne1971

bump please

aliasojo

I've recently put in Warm up ufh in my small bathroom. I ignored all the people who told me it was expensive to run and I believed the website's figures.

I have a prepayment electric meter so any difference in cost is very quickly apparent. The ufh costs me just under £15 a week. Our subfloors are wood and between floor and ceiling is insulated.

I love the warmth under the tiles but I only run the heating in really cold weather now.

Lincoln_Imp

Had it fitted in the bathroom a couple of years ago ,hardly use it now to be honest
Takes an age to warm up and costs an arm and a leg to run

Josepina

Im also looking to get this in my kitchen which is pretty big. I haven't decided any brands yet but will let you know how it goes. I've got a tiler coming round tonight so I'm going to ask his advice as well. I'm definitely still keeping 1 radiator and will be having a plinth heather fitted as we dont have much wall space and I dread it feeling cold.

sillygoose

I have installed a 9m square one in my new conservatory, its a high pitched high roof style conservatory so starting with the heat low down makes sense. Its power consumption is 1.8kw but it will cycle on and off, there is a sensor in the floor to control what temperature the floor is allowed to reach and then a room sensor. The power to the floor is cycled on and off to keep the floor at a certain temperature until the room reaches temp. then it all shuts down.

Its a sophisticated controller with a touch screen and is programmed with a schedule to heat only at times I may want to use the conservatory, and then only when actually needed (cold). I don't think it will even be needed for at least half the year. Based on my programmed times I calculate it will cost up to £25 a month during the cold months. Nothing during the warmer months, so I am happy to live with average £150 per year. Its a powerful heater, they are rated at so many watts per metre output and this is a 200 watts version. Laid onto 30mm insulation board and directly under the tiles it heats up in 15 minutes.
One big advantage is it doesn't take up a wall or any space leaving the room flexible in use. (Also it avoids building regulation issues as its not connected to the house heating system)

The problem with installing in the house is you don't have the floor depth to play with for proper insulation under the heater unless you have the floor dug out. Without excellent insulation the running costs and heat up time soar as your heating the ground and eventually the whole Earth! in a conservatory its easy to have the floor level built from scratch to allow for some serious insulation, forcing the heat up not down.

House_Hunter

Sillygoose,

Any links to the one you used?

sillygoose

No problem, I looked at many suppliers, as an electronics engineer I am concerned about quality as well as price. I ordered a 'kit' with an upgrade to the TRS8100 Controller and the Marmox insulation boards all from this supplier. All arrived safely. The Mat is excellent with a screened layer (many don't have this) cuts down on electrical emissions. The kit contained the mat and a special primer coating for the insulation board to help the mat stick, even a firm mini roller to apply it.

Not the cheapest but all high quality parts so price is good, once embedded under tile floor your stuffed if it plays up but if its good gear it should work indefinitely, wouldn't risk buying the cheapest!

The Marmox is very light but can take 30 tonnes per metre, its far superior and better value than the DIY store stuff. Basically its an ultra dense polystyrene foam with a thin layer of cement each side, the thicker you fit the better. When laying these system under tiles you need to use underfloor heating suitable 'flexible' tile adhesive and grout. Wickes rapid set flexible adhesive is excellent. Homebase do a rapid set flexible grout in good colours cheap which is also ace.

PS on the website I linked, if spending over £150 make sure you use the 5% discount code mentioned on the home page (right hand side)