Underfloor heating

outlaw777

Hi im thinking of getting underfloor heating, does anyone recommend or know how expensive?

macman

What sort? Electric (dry), or wet? The installation will depend on the type of floors you already have-what are they? What sort of property? Not really enough info to go on.
What other fuel options do you have? Any single-rate electric heating is typically 3 times as much as main gas, so, if you have or can get the latter, it's a no-brainer to have a gas boiler and wet CH and DHW.

Rosa_Damascena

I had WUFH installed last summer and never switch it on, as its become far too expensive to use! So in all a big waste of money.

sol2017

I have electric ufh in my bathroom and wouldn't do without. Comes on automatically for a few hours in the morning and evening.

IMO not that expensive as secondary heating in such a small area. Would probably be very expensive if used as primary heating in a large room.

BikingBud

Rosa_Damascena said:

I had WUFH installed last summer and never switch it on, as its become far too expensive to use! So in all a big waste of money.

Are you able to elaborate please?

In theory the property should only consume the same amount of energy but obviously depends upon changes to fabric, layout and house usage. Do you think the extra expense is due to energy price increases or the amount of energy it uses?

If the latter have you checked the set up to see if it was commissioned correctly, to operate at best efficiency? 

What do you intend to do now?

theonlywayisup

We converted our barn in 2004 and installed oil fired boiler with UFH serviced from that.  We never touch it.  By that I mean the room stats in each zone are set and it has proved most efficient and beautifully warm for our lifestyle.  Our boiler, which is all heating and water, takes approximately 900l oil per year.  Just having looked at last year's oil delivery - that was £271.  However anyone with oil will know the fluctuations and if I bought this oil now it is nearer to £600.  For the size of the barn and the fact we are never cold I am more than happy with that. 

Is this a new build or a retro fit?

aoleks

I will get UFH downstairs, water/CH powered. A specialised conpany will mill grooves in my foundation, so I don’t lose any room height, install the pipes, cement them in and simply use whatever floor you would normally use.

much more efficient than radiators overall!

Racky_Roo

I have wet ufh throughout my downstairs with LVT over the top. It was installed as part of my new build.
Certainly doesn't cost any more than standard heating and I find it doesn't need to come on that often unlike upstairs as the heat seems to stay in the rooms a lot longer. Most days it only comes on in the morning.
A few points to consider;
It's very different to using radiators, you need it to come on before the room gets too cold as it takes a while to heat up. It also continues to warm up once it's off, so mine is set to 17 degrees but about 20 mins after it switches off, it will hit 18, often 19 if there's a few people in the room.
You do need thermostats in each room so the temperature can be varied by zone to get the most out of it.
You are limited to what rugs you can have as they need to be breathable and not rubber backed.
For it to work efficiently, I believe you do need good insulation in the house.
It's very handy being able to position the furniture anywhere
The pipework does take up a bit of room so you need a cupboard it can be put in and easy to access should there be an issue.

ComicGeek

aoleks said:

I will get UFH downstairs, water/CH powered. A specialised conpany will mill grooves in my foundation, so I don’t lose any room height, install the pipes, cement them in and simply use whatever floor you would normally use.

much more efficient than radiators overall!

I assume you mean screed rather than foundations? And hopefully you have insulation below the screed, otherwise you're just going to be warming the ground beneath your house, and not the house itself.

If it's an existing house, have you checked that you can get enough heat out of the UFH, as this is limited? The heat output is also limited by the floor finish, as that affects what temperature the UFH can run at.

It can be difficult to retrofit UFH into an existing house - at least half of the projects that I look at can't get it to work.

outlaw777

macman said:

What sort? Electric (dry), or wet? The installation will depend on the type of floors you already have-what are they? What sort of property? Not really enough info to go on.
What other fuel options do you have? Any single-rate electric heating is typically 3 times as much as main gas, so, if you have or can get the latter, it's a no-brainer to have a gas boiler and wet CH and DHW.

I dont know what you mean by dry or wet? I have wooden floors and its a flat.....

FaceHead

outlaw777 said:

macman said:

What sort? Electric (dry), or wet? The installation will depend on the type of floors you already have-what are they? What sort of property? Not really enough info to go on.
What other fuel options do you have? Any single-rate electric heating is typically 3 times as much as main gas, so, if you have or can get the latter, it's a no-brainer to have a gas boiler and wet CH and DHW.

I dont know what you mean by dry or wet? I have wooden floors and its a flat.....

Dry=Electric. Wet=water which will probably be heated by your boiler.