Underfloor heating advice

Hi.

Can someone please give me some advice on underfloor heating.

I am putting it in a property on the ground floor and radiators upstairs.

My friend who is going to be doing all the plumbing has given me a cost of around £1500 for all the materials for the ground floor.

The rooms downstairs include a Kitchen/Dinning, Living room, WC, Utility, Study and the hall.

I'm assuming that each of these rooms is a zone in itself.

The square metre floor area of each room is 24m2, 16m2, 9m2, 7m2, 4m2 and 2m2.

I'm planning on renting the property out, so I want something that will last.

Someone told me that even the cheapest systems last just as long as the expensive brands if fitted properly. Don't know how much truth is in that.

Cheers.

Important!! Get the supplier of the underfloor system to do the drawings and calculations for you as it is important to get the right amount of pipe under the floor
The designer will need to know what sort of floor coverings you plant to use as these will effect the amount and layout of the pipe - get it right you will get a fantastic heating system - get it wrong - Disaster!!

Underfloor heating is expensive and slow to respond also time consuming to install.

Give me radiators any day.

Why spend more than you have to?

deuce22 said:

Hi.

I'm assuming that each of these rooms is a zone in itself.

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Assumption is one of those words we use when somethings gone badly wrong and we forgot to do, or left something to someone else to do.

check your specs. in a low to mid value rental i'd probably just go with rads, but ufh is the way forward - even heat and it'll save the user money.

it doesn't have to be a top brand to be good quality - check your warranties and make sure your installer fits it as the warranty requires, specify no joints in pipes below the screed and get it pressure tested before it's screeded.

plus I assume you have allowed for a good depth of insulation beneath it also?

if it goes wrong (joints leaking or damaged pipes in screed) it is bad news.

Thanks guy's for the advice.

Boilerman2.
I have the detailed plans of the property, so I will send them along with all the other info that they'll need.

dcawkwell.
The reason that I am willing to spend more money on this, is that it doesn't add much more to the budget in return for making the people renting the property much more comfortable and happier.
I've stayed at a friends house for a few days who has it and it is nicer, he also said that his gas bill was a lot cheaper.
My whole philosophy behind these projects, is that I build a property that has a much higher spec than anything in the area, so that I don't have many problems renting it out.
I was told that the response time is a lot quicker than radiators.


studips.
Thanks. I can now ask the plumber a few things and make sure he is not doing any of the things that you have said.
He did mention pressure testing it.
It will be mid value rental, but I still think it's worth the extra cost.
I will be putting 100mm of Celotex/Kinspan in the oversight as per regs, but then I'll ask the supplier what else needs to be done.
What should the average warranty be?

Thanks.

£1500 for materials...I assume you realise that there will be a substantial amount of labour to pay on top of this?

UFH can be slower to respond than radiators due to the lower differential temperatures between the heat source and the room, and also the way the heat is emitted, but it's cheaper to run, that's the tradeoff

deuce22 said:

I was told that the response time is a lot quicker than radiators.

Thanks.

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Depending on who you ask its possible to get all sorts of mad answers.

The plain fact is that UFH takes 1-3 hours to get a room up to temperature compared with radiators about 15-20 minutes. This arises because of the high thermal mass of the floor screed and the thermal resistance between heating element and room.

UFH is fine for those who are retired, work from home or school teachers who have the same hours hours every day.

Totally unsuitable for bus drivers or anyone who has irregular hours.

Its good for owner occupiers who understand its advantages and limitations but not very good for an average tenant who in London often works long or irregular hours ( if private and not social tenants ).

Apart from any other considerations UFH costs about three to five times as much as rads if fitted when the floors are being laid. 10-20 times as much if retrospectively fitted.

Tony

Hi muggles.

I've been quoted around £950 by another company, so in comparison to radiators it's only going to be an extra few hundred pound for the materials.

The next thing now is comparing the labour costs. As long as there not massive, I think it's an option.

My only issue now is the heating up time. The whole idea of using this, is to make the occupiers lives more comfortable.

It could possibly have the opposite effect.

Hi Tony.

The labour costs is the next thing for me to take into account. I will wait and see what the plumber comes back with.

Does anyone know how I can work out a rough cost for labour only when fitting a boiler and rads throughout a house. Is there some formula thats used.

It has 3 beds, an ensuite and bathroom upstairs, a kitchen/dinning, living, study, WC, utility and hall downstairs.

Thanks.