Underfloor heating- polypipe vs electric?

vermas

I wanted some advice on underfloor heating

I have just bought a house and I am getting a new heating system- a megaflo system and i am getting ceramic tiles in kitchen and laminate in the dining room etc- so all the floors will be taken up

I wanted underfloor heating in the kitchen at least and was thinking of the mats you can get with electric cable but i also heard of polypipe and was thinking that while laminate is mainly warm anyway it maybe worth considering putting the polypipe in the kitchen and lounge area-

• is this easy to run from the central heating system
• is it expensive to implement
• are the ongoing heating costs cheaper than radiators/ electric underfloor heating and if so by how much
• what are the other main pros and cons
• can i remove the radiators from rooms with the polypipe
• where can i get instructions on how to do this- my plumber has not done it before but if he has some instructions he will have no problems

any advice on this matter or alternative solutions would be greatly appreciated

m_13

We were considering underfloor heating in our bathroom and kitchen. We took lots of advice and one of the things we were told was that our bathroom floor space was too small to generate anything more than background heat from the square metres we had available as it can't be under the bath, shower, basin pedestal or toilet.

We were also told that not all laminate flooring is suitable and that as we had concrete floors we would need to have insulation underneath the mats and then deeper adhesive to bed the mats in and then the tiles on top which would have raised the floor too much for us (and made the adjoining hall seem very low). The mats were thin already so polypipe would have made the floors even thicker.

You can see diagrams showing the different methods for polypipe here. Had we been having a new build then we would have gone for it embedded in a 100mm screed but we felt the problems involved in doing just one or two rooms made it a no no for us.

bigdave77

We considered both the Polypipe and Electric underfloor heating for an extension we have just had built. I didn't investigate either option fully and am only going off a plumber and an electricians comments but hope it helps anyway.

The plumber said that the wet system although very good did need to be a certain depth (can't remember how deep but sure he said it was something to do with Regulations) and the cost of installation was quite high. We don't see ourselves in the house forever so couldn't justify spending a lot of money on it. He recommended the electric as an alternative cheaper option and also said it was quite economical to run, however having spoken to the electrician he mentioned that his boss had just installed it under some tiles in his bathroom and one or two of the mats were faulty so didn't work, the only way to get to the mat was to take the tiles up. He said in most cases you never have a problem with it but you always remember the negatives of something so in the end we decided against both options.

HTH

bigdave77

robv_3

Two main types of underfloor heating. Wet and Electric, both have pros and cons.

Electric systems are cheapest to buy and install. Normally just stuck under tiles and not part of a system design (heat less calcualations, lots of insulation, etc). For this reason the heat output is not enough to heat a room by itself and only suitable for small rooms. Good for making the floor warm but not for heating a room. You will still need a nothing heating source.

Wet systems are best installed as part of a new build. For a small room (eg, conservatory) you can get away with connecting a special valve and ufh pipe to a existing central heating system and if you have lots of insulation under the screed it will heat a room up to about 15m2. Anything more than this you will need a pump/manifold etc. which starts to get expensive.

wet system usually are1/3 of the cost to run as electric and under floor heating is seen as more efficient than normal convection type systems to run.

robv_3

wet systems are normally installed in 65->75mm screed on top of insulation. The amount of insulation depends on the room size (as defined in building regs) but normally around 100mm.

Si_G

Firstly, I have a vested interest. I have worked for a boiler manufacturer and an underfloor heating manufacturer but having reviewed all the options for my own home and in light of some industry experience, this is how I see it:

Electric is quick and cheap to install, doesn't increase floor height particularly and is really easy to control.

However gas central heating (GCH) is significantly cheaper than electric run during the day (let alone the significantly lower carbon consumption). While slightly more complicated to install, it's comparable in price.

Therefore extending your GCH makes sense if you can using a pipe system.

Another benefit is that underfloor heating runs at lower temperatures than radiators which means your (condensing) boiler will run it's most efficient mode for longer making it even cheaper to run than radiators.

The afore mentioned manufacturer makes some nice retrofit solutions but they will raise the floor by circa 18mm. (google "freeyourwalls")

Insulation is recommended on concrete floors for either electric or piped underfloor heating. On wood floors, the floor itself keeps the heat in.

Finally in relation to viable space, floor space is normally proportional to room space so anything can be underfloor heated effectively.

As you can see, I'm sold!

stolt

Nothing to add other than i wanted to keep a eye on this thread. We are having a extension buitl int he enxt few weeks and i wanted to install underfloor heating in this room and also the kids playroom. i just assumed we woudl go for the electric underfloor heatign but will ask the builder about the water type.

lisal0u

Hi Vermas,

I posted this in another topic about underfloor heating and thought it might be useful to you:

We are having UF heating in our living room, kitchen and hallway. I got 3 quotes as there are many companies out there who are desperate for business. Warmup was one of them and they were nearly double the price of the other 2. The 3 I went to were warmup, warm2u and underfloor heating warehouse. I did quite a lot of bargaining between them and managed to get 37m2 for £1090 inc vat, postage, insulation, vapor barrier and 3 thermostats/timers (http://www.ufwarehouse.co.uk/). Its was delivered when it was supposed to and they have a brilliant technical team that will help you with the installation (UK based too).

We haven't fully installed it yet so I cant tell you how good it is but we have used it to replace the radiators downstairs!

Good luck
Lisa

Markthespark

I would go for Warmup every time, i must have fitted over 100 of their kits in the last few years and never had to go back to a job. They have a lifetime gurantee so can't get better than that!

The last thing you want is to save a few quid on a cheap brand, then it go wrong and you have to take the floor up... what a nightmare eh?

You can buy it from Topps Tiles but i get mine from the Duston Electrical website as they are loads cheaper, get a quote from both and you'll see what i mean!