Help..my UFH is using loads of gas.

Candles_2

Hi, I built a small 100m2 dormer bungalow last year - open plan 2 bed. I installed wet UFH to downstairs only .. its open plan to upstairs.

Its got a Sap rating of B, & a new condencing Worcester boiler.

My big problem is that its taking 2500kw of gas to run a month! Thats 3 times the average radiator system.

There's no gas leaks.. The only thing on the gas is hot water & ufh.. & I have a shower once a day .

I just cant work our why its using so much gas.

Any help or advice really appreciated.

many thanks

Hintza

Turn the temperature down and adjust the times the heating is on.

You want UFH to come on earlier and go off earlier eg in the morning you want it on before you get up and probably going off when you get up. In the evening probably going off at 8:30pm.

If you have carpets it will have to work twice as hard.

We have engineered floor which is OK but in the kitchen and utility we have stone and boy that is warm on the tootsies.

Our house was built last year and has a C grade (almost a energy efficiency cert and the house sits at 18-20 C all heating (except towel warmers) is off upstairs.

But we had no mains gas so went for ground source heating which is running very well.

warmhands.coldheart

Hmmm. our neighbour says he's going through gas like no-ones business and can't get to the bottom of it. Plumber says it's not the boiler, gas people say it's not a leak........ but he's using about 3 times more than us!! (Not that this is of any help but may be good to know your not the only one in this boat!)

anotherbaldrick

It has to be the way you are using it ! You can't turn UFH heating on and off like a radiator sytem , In fact we don't run ours on the room stat at all.
We turn the UFH on for an hour only about 2 hours before we want the heat , this builds up stored heat in the underfloor concrete slab and will then radiate heat into the room until we turn in at 22.30 the room will still be warm next morning.
For our 3 bed cottage we are using 225 Kw per week

fluffymuffy

Candles wrote: »

I just cant work our why its using so much gas.

Can you borrow some electric heaters and do without your gas boiler for 24 hours? To see if the meter moves at all.

What room temperature do you have?

We use very little oil (no gas here) considering we've no insulation, as we have our thermostats set at 14 degrees and top up the heating in other ways (cooking, computers, woodburner, .......)

rustyboy21

I don't have UFH, but my initial thoughts are that it wouldn't work like CH or the heat from a fire.

They are to warm the room to an ambient temperature, there wouldn't be any sort of instant effect like you have when you stand in front of a radiator or fire. You may be turnig the thermostat up higher than it needs to be, so you get some of the instant heat you want, but that means that the boiler would be running non stop as it would be working on max, to hit the increase in temp.

I did this when I firswt had CH fitted. I had the thermostat set for 21 deg all day as OH at home. Round 8.00 pm I felt cold so I would set it to 23 deg so the rads came on full, to feel the instant heat. It took ages for the house to get to 23 ( infact it never does, Vic semi solid walls ) My gas bill was sky high . This year I am putting the fire on if it feels nippy, the stat says house is 21 deg, so that is what it is. You get used to the heat, so feels colder.

Get yourself a nice gas fire or stove to use as well, will work out cheaper on the gas bills.

eilidh_s

I have UFH downstairs and an airsource pump and I have granite tiles on the floor and an open plan living area. You do have to use it completely differently to normal heating though. It doesn't go to as high a temperature as a radiator does but if it goes off and the temp drops it can take up to a day to get the rooms back up to temperature. I have an open loop into both the downstairs toilets to ensure the system is always running at a constant temperature which happens to be a lot lower than if it was constantly switching on and off. The kitchen, dining and living area have their own loops controlled by a thermostat but the only one that tends to come on is the kitchen loop as it is at the back of the house and doesn't benefit from the enormous heat we get through the living room windows when the sun is out! The bedrooms have a loop each too but they hardly ever come on. We have the pump set to about 22c and I keep the thermostats at about 20c but the house is generally at a constant 24c. I have no heating upstairs apart from a towel rail in the ensuite. I have a much warmer and more comfortable house than my parents who spend a fortune on oil central heating and an open fire, and an electric heaters. Thank the lords for good insulation!

Candles_2

Hi folks. just an update .. it turns out that the Ufh had been programmed wrong.. really hot water was going to Ufh manifold & then was having to be cooled down with cold. Had a man round to reprogramme the computer bits & now i'm using 75% less gas..& house is toastie.. phew!,, just shows that trying to save money by doing things yourself is sometimes false ecomony.

Many thanks for all your help.

xx