Electric Underfloor Heating - anyone got it?

dilby00

Hi all - I've just had a home office installed and need to lay flooring. I'm considering laying electric underfloor heating while I do and wondered if anyone has it and can let me know thoughts on it's effectiveness (I'm looking at the matts that come as kits). There's lots of info online about normal water underfloor heating, but it's hard to find anything subjective about electric. Thanks!

Cardew

You need to start from appreciating that ALL electrical heating produces exactly the same amount of heat for the same running cost.

The next factor is how that heat is delivered. Some produce 'instant' heat e.g a fan heater, but have no residual heat. Others, e.g. an oil filled radiator are slow to deliver heat, but have residual heat; underfloor heating(UFH) is in that latter category.

So it comes down to personal preference, and cost of installation.

hebridean

I installed Warm Up heating in my two upstairs bathrooms which has proven to be very effective. I chose the continious wire system taping it to particle board and then used a flexi screed of 5mm to cover the wiring and tiled over the screed. The kit comes with a good programmer and it's also very quich in heating up. I have them on for a couple of hours in the morning and evening in the Winter taking the chill of the tiles.

FedUpHouseowner

Hi. My 3 bed semi is reasonably insulated (D rating) and run entirely on electric as there's no gas in the area. I have electric storage heaters, Economy 7, no individual heating controls, no room thermostat and the water is heated via the immersion... I have been seeking advice locally and been offered these 3 options so far: spend £5k to install an oil central heating system, not including the tank and oil. Go for EUFH; a ribbon system with a room thermostat, and retro-fit each room as I go along. Or install a multi-fuel stove with a boiler to heat the water (we live in a semi-rural area and have enough outside space to store logs and coal). I currently pay around £1,500 a year on electric, would love the crackle of a log fire, want to save as much money as possible on ongoing running costs, could spend a few thousand on installation, don't mind the work involved as we're working to invest in the house anyway, am interested in renewables, and want to feel warm, dry and cosy. So, any advice?

matelodave

Probably the most expensive option would be electric underfloor heating. It may be relatively cheap to install but you would not be able to take advantage of off peak leccy like you can with storage heaters as you'd need it on all the time. You would also need to insulate underneath it unless you want to heat the ground under your house.

If you are happy with oil, then that's probably the cheapest option. A log burner would heat your water in the winter but you'd still need to use leccy in the summer.

We had the same dilemma and installed an Air Source Heat Pump with an overlay underfloor heating system. It works for us as we are at home all day. We've had it now for six years and our total energy use is around £750 a year in a 3 bedroom detached bungalow right out in Fenland. Our EPC is a D. We get around £700 a year back in RHI payments for seven years (about £5k) which offset the cost to the heatpump. The UFH system was quite expensive though.