Trench heating

[dustydavID]

Hello,
We are building an extension to our bungalow, and we now have to make a decision on the type of heating in the extended open plan lounge/diner/kitchen. We had kind of discounted underfloor heating, as the room will have half timber suspended floors and half new insulated beam and block floor. We felt the change of temperature underfoot would feel strange. We dont really want lots of bulky rads spoiling the look of the room, so we are considering Trench heating. This will be set in front of the 6m patio doors. The room dimensions are approx. 8x9m Hope someone can advise if this will be the right option for me. Thanks

 

[ALEC1]

avoid like the plague, unless they are fan assisted...

the reason being that they need very high temperatures to start the circulation of air and generally modern boilers don't like such high temperatures...

 

[Agile]

A lady asked about them here a few months ago. There was a lot of discussion.

They have their uses. I am not sure yours is one.

Are you willing to pay say £2000 for trench heating instead of say £400 for radiators?

Tony

 

[dustydavID]

Thanks for your advice Tony. I had breifly looked at the price for trench heating, but I was unaware that it was that expensive. Our budget is already stretched beyond our means!!!

The whole extension is about 80sq.m. which includes two bedrooms, utility and an en-suite Do you think that UFH could be an option, given the different floor substrates ?

 

[Agile]

Its not so much the hardware but the building work needed to accommodate it.

As Alex says, the heat output is very poor and it needs to be oversized to give enough output at normal condensing boiler flow rates.

Tony

 

[Dan Robinson]

You and Alec are as wrong as you are right.

They ARE expensive. But they don't need to be fan assisted and they don't need to be "oversized". They are sized to requirements. If there isn't the space, then as with UFH, they are not suitable. I have installed them in a house with 5 separate heating systems. With trenches working on both a 25 year old Mexico, and on two other floors, a pair of weather compensated Atmos InterCombi's (Alec if you mention turn down ratios - I refer you to the CCR thread in the "other" place ).

They are what they are. Very effective if you have the space and budget.

This thread is a case of "if you have to ask, you can't afford it". A situation all to familiar in this forum.

 

[Agile]

I forgot to mention the other drawback!

They are totally unsuitable for guests, wives and escort ladies wearing stilletto heels !

 

[doitall]

Assume it will have normal insulated cavity walls, and the wood floor is existing.

I would look at underfloor for the solid floor, then a couple of rads or heaters in the existing area.

 

[Agile]

Illustration of what is not possible with trench heating!

 

[Dan Robinson]

Tony, you really do have a lot to learn.

 

[mysteryman]

UFH is fine. Just get it sized to suit the building and its floor. It will probably be more expensive than rads. Make sure that the new build is properly insulated.

If the extension is covering a large area of older existing external wall, the heat load for the house may be REDUCED by adding a new extension.

 

[dustydavID]

Umm, plenty to think about. Not quite sure what my best option would be. Although more difficuly to focus on a solution now I have a mental image of a leather-clad escort carefully stepping over my trench. Basically though it comes down to price. Can anybody tell me how much more UHF costs to install per sq.m against rads?

 

[Agile]

Very little extra if you assume you are going to have an insulated concrete floor!

If not then you have to cater for perhaps £60 psq m for the floor assuming thats a good sized area.

Tony

 

[dustydavID]

I'm coming round to the idea of UHF for the extension. Unfortunately I have no experience of installing it, although it looks reasonably straight forward. Do you normally have these systems designed proffesionally? Or can you buy kits with pre-set manifolds etc. Also can they be used under carpets?

 

[DeeMody]

Hi guys,

I know this post is a couple of months old and I have read your responses with interests.

We are thinking of putting in trench heating in our warehouse conversion. The space is one room with a mezzanine.

The reasons for this is because we do not have any walls free for radiators and there is floor to ceiling windows on one side. Trench heating hopefully solve the condensation issue we have due to the windows.

I understand from below that trench heating is expensive compared to other forms of heating - is this for the initial price or are the running costs higher?

Can you please tell me if there are any other disadvantages other than price as this is not really a limiting factor.

Thanks and look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Dee x