Electric under-floor heating or electric radiators

[Ducky]

Hi everyone,

I’ve recently moved in to a top-floor flat in which the living room is really inadequately heated. I’m going to have to make some changes & was wondering whether I should go for electric under-floor heating or wall mounted electric radiators. The measurements & specifications of the room are 8.1 meters X 6.6 meters = 44 square meters with double height ceilings. Two of the walls are floor-to-ceiling windows so I can't put radiators on them. A third wall has a staircase so there is limited space for a radiator on that wall. The room currently has a single electric radiator that looks like it hasn't been changed for 20 years. It is definitely emitting heat, but the room gets really cold after sunset.

I wanted to know whether I would be better off installing new electric radiators along the wall that is free of windows & stairs OR whether I should get electric under-floor heating installed? I would appreciate it if you could please tell me (1) which would be better to keep the room warm given the height & (2) which would be better from a cost effective point of view in terms of electricity bills. Note that installation costs are not an issue. Also note that gas, water heaters & wet under-floor heaters are not an option for me.

Apologies if the question has been asked before (I can see that it has), but it seems that my circumstances are quite unique.

Thank you & I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Kindest Regards,

 

[oldbutnotdead]

What's a double height ceiling? 5 metres? 6 metres? Do share

Whatever you do it won't be cheap to run. Do you know if there is any insulation in the floor- if there is that'll make underfloor a bit more efficient.

First job (to depress yourself) is search for heat loss calculators, put your room in and see what it comes out with. That'll give you a start point

Second, accept that sitting in a T shirt watching the telly is not going to be affordable- get some long johns and thermal tops and maybe one of those slanket things. And a cat (v good hot water bottles)

 

[Ducky]

It's about 5.5 meters.

Not sure about the floor insulation, although the building was built in the year 2000 so I assume that it does have that.

Thanks for your advice, but I do have a newborn baby so I need to keep the room as warm as possible. I understand that it will be expensive, but wanted to know which of the 2 options would be less expensive to run.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Wouldn't assume there's insulation in the floors- especially if it was originally built as an office or factory. For a recent build like that You should be able to find plans on your local council's website, if you're lucky there'll be detailed plans showing the floor construction. I suspect that the heat loss on your room would be too great for UFH alone to keep it warm- there's a limit on kwh/sq m that can be delivered without making the floor too hot to stand on. Do the heat loss calcs first

 

[Notch7]

With 5.5m high ceilings, warming aroom by convection is going to be expensive.

I cant remember how much a radiator radiates compared to convects, but the convecting percentage, will heat the air, it will rise and rise and rise and prob wont circulate very well.

 

[muggles]

UFH will be more expensive to install, but cheaper to run. You need to consider how long you'll be staying in the property for and whether the additional expense is justified.

Is there any possibility of installing a false ceiling with insulation above to reduce running costs? You could even create a storage area up there...

 

[Ducky]

UFH will be more expensive to install, but cheaper to run. You need to consider how long you'll be staying in the property for and whether the additional expense is justified.

Is there any possibility of installing a false ceiling with insulation above to reduce running costs? You could even create a storage area up there...

Thanks Muggles, that is exactly what I wanted to know. We will definitely be staying in the property for at least 10 to 15 years & we anyway want to replace the flooring in the living room so I guess we can install the UFH at that time.