Underfloor heating

annierich78

As part of becoming more environmentally friendly we are currently investigating installing underfloor heating in our new build house which we are buying from a developer. He's a typical developer - more interested in profit than sustainability. He has decided that if we want underfloor heating - downstairs only- we will have to have his choice which is Polypipe Overlay Lite. We will have carpets in the lounge and study and probably some form of vinyl flooring in the kitchen / dining area / conservatory.
Does anyone have experience of Polypipe Overlay Lite? All comments will be very gratefully received.
TIA.

jetski690

I've had underfloor heating since 2001 and think it's great I'm very happy with it, I dont know of the company you quote as there's so many system's on the market today all I would advise though is your choice of floor coverings, carpets are great for homely comforts but will reduce the effectiveness off the warmth coming through so it's the least effective, ceramic tiles are probably the most effective and I've also just had a vinyl floor put down in my lounge which replaced a laminate floor, but I think I would steer away from carpets personally and stick with vinyl but just add a rug in the middle to maybe break it up abit.

wynne

If you're after sustainability, electric underfloor heating is said to be compatible. I've used the brand Warmup in the bathroom (although more because a friend recommended it rather than me being eco!) and it's brilliant. Mine's with tiles but I've seen that they also do systems for carpeted floors etc. You can check out their website warmup.co.uk. Good luck!

renegade

I bought a house with under floor heating and it sucks-The whole house was cold but not draughty, it took forever to get heated through,not very good in the freezing weather when you heat almost instantly, like hot radiators in 5 mins. I would not have it again,but I did have the whole house carpeted so that may explain why it was not functioning to my liking.

reeac

annierich78 wrote: »

As part of becoming more environmentally friendly we are currently investigating installing underfloor heating in our new build house which we are buying from a developer. He's a typical developer - more interested in profit than sustainability. He has decided that if we want underfloor heating - downstairs only- we will have to have his choice which is Polypipe Overlay Lite. We will have carpets in the lounge and study and probably some form of vinyl flooring in the kitchen / dining area / conservatory.
Does anyone have experience of Polypipe Overlay Lite? All comments will be very gratefully received.
TIA.

I don't think that there's anything particularly environmentally friendly about underfloor heating.Your heating is tied in with a big thermal mass and so response is very slow and you can't take advantage of modern electronic controls. Also you have a load of plumbing hidden away under concrete and so difficult to access. On the plus side you don't have radiators which many consider to be unsightly.

wynne

renegade wrote: »

I bought a house with under floor heating and it sucks-The whole house was cold but not draughty, it took forever to get heated through,not very good in the freezing weather when you heat almost instantly, like hot radiators in 5 mins. I would not have it again,but I did have the whole house carpeted so that may explain why it was not functioning to my liking.

Did you install insulation? I had insulation boards put directly beneath the system as recommended by Warmup when we made the purchase, and I think that must really help then because it definitely doens't take very long to start feeling warm, maybe about 10 mins?

Also, we didn't require plumbing as it was just electric wires that were already laid on a mat and we just had to unroll it and put the new floor over. We did however get an electrician to do the thermostat connection just to be safe.

The thermostat we use with it is digital and programmable, so pretty happy with it too.

zeupater

Hi

If you're looking at sustainability/carbon footprint or moneysaving don't bother looking at the electrical resistance underfloor heating. It might be okay to warm up a small tiled floor in one room to provide a little exotic comfort, but for heating a house it'll either cost a fortune to run or be insufficient for your needs (or both).

HTH
Z