Underfloor insualtion for heating

t0m · 20 Apr 2011

Hi Guys,

Looking to lay underfloor heating (EcoFilm) in my conservatory.

I need 10mm insulation to go down onto the concrete first.

I get the feeling the insulation they are selling with the system is overpriced and actually any good thermal insualtion will do.

Anyone know what I should be looking at or anything they have used in the past?

Is this suitable: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Depron-6mm--*...625731&cguid=33ae93d812a0a0e2027729b7ff6005c9

Thanks.

holmslaw · 20 Apr 2011

t0m · 20 Apr 2011

Thanks for posting but perhaps you could a bit more detail?

holmslaw · 20 Apr 2011

t0m · 20 Apr 2011

Had a read, thanks.

However, still need to heat it for occasional use as a room you can only use 6 months of the year is useless - so the question remains the same as in my original post.

Reccomend or suggest what specification I should be looking for.

Can only go to 10-12mm as the flooring is 14mm

Taylortwocities · 20 Apr 2011

the problem is that electric underfloor heating is good for only two things:
1. generating huge electricity bills
2. just giving you warm feet - and only then if you can anticipate 2 hours ahead of when you will be wanting to use that floor space.

Electric underfloor heating is poor at heating a space. You are better off with wet underfloor heating, or radiators.

RossR · 20 Apr 2011

Good underfloor heating installations have good insulation in the floor. Usually, that means something considerably thicker than you are considering (100mm of insulation is not unusual). To get a similar performance in a thickness of less than 20mm is going to be expensive. For example this would be £280 for 20 m².

You don't say how much they are charging for the insulation, so it's difficult to know if it's overpriced or not!

There is also a limit to how much you can offset good thermal elements against bad ones. Conservatories leak a lot of heat, whatever you do with the floor.

Richard C · 20 Apr 2011

Take a look at Marmox insulated tile backer boards;
http://www.marmox4u.co.uk/marmox_insulation.php
The idea of the boards is to reflect heat upwards into the tiles & the room rather than heating mother earth. They are effective in that they significantly reduce warm up time & it’s more efficient but a 10mm board without any additional insulation in the slab (mine has 75mm Celeotex) is not going to make an awful lot of difference when you consider that conservatories are just about as heat efficient as your average garden shed & will cost a small fortune to heat to a comfortable level from November through March.

RF Lighting · 20 Apr 2011

Get an inverter air con unit installed. It's 400% efficient at heating, and can be used to cool the room down in summer too.

ban-all-sheds · 20 Apr 2011

t0m said:
Looking to lay underfloor heating (EcoFilm) in my conservatory.

When you apply for Building Regulations approval, how do you plan to show compliance with Part L?

ban-all-sheds · 20 Apr 2011

t0m said:
However, still need to heat it for occasional use as a room you can only use 6 months of the year is useless

It'll be just as useless after you've wasted your money on UFH.

Reccomend or suggest what specification I should be looking for.

Warmer clothes.

Can only go to 10-12mm as the flooring is 14mm

Useless.

Richard C · 20 Apr 2011

ban-all-sheds said:
t0m said:

Looking to lay underfloor heating (EcoFilm) in my conservatory.

Click to expand...

When you apply for Building Regulations approval, how do you plan to show compliance with Part L?

BAS I’m surprised at you

are you intoxicated, Ill, or something worse

Apart from safety glazing & electrics, cons are exempt from & don’t have to comply with BR’s

or am I missing something & going to totally embarrass myself

PS: where were you when I needed you recently

ban-all-sheds · 20 Apr 2011

Richard C said:
BAS I’m surprised at you are you intoxicated, Ill, or something worse Apart from safety glazing & electrics, cons are exempt from & don’t have to comply with BR’s or am I missing something & going to totally embarrass myself

I thought the recent BR amendments meant that changing an unheated space to a heated one was classed as a material alteration.

PS: where were you when I needed you recently

Milan?

Richard C · 21 Apr 2011

ban-all-sheds said:
I thought the recent BR amendments meant that changing an unheated space to a heated one was classed as a material alteration.

As far as I can see as long as the heating system has independent temperature & on/off controls it remains in the exempted categories - L2B 4.12. One thing that's changed is the amendments (clause L2B 3.21/3.22) now seem to explicitly prohibit the extension of the main building heating system into a porch/conservatory whereas it used to be acceptable provided it was fitted with independent temperature & on/off controls, as above. Can’t really see the point of that; if it’s independently controlled, why does it matter.

mointainwalker · 21 Apr 2011

@RossR

I looked at your link to the expensive insulation and was surprised to find it is a multi-foil.

Have to ask, what makes you think it is any good ?

I read right through the spec but although they include lots of superflous info ( tear-strength

)could not find anything at all on insulating value. Surprise, surprise !

That apart, I always believed that even the exaggerated claims ( you will note I am not a believer ) they usually make , relied upon a 25 mm air-gap on both sides of the foil, which is obviously not possible under a floor.

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Underfloor insualtion for heating

holmslaw

holmslaw

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