underfloor heating (now looking at Wet)

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Does anybody have any experience of electric underfloor heating , we are currently having our house renovated and are abit stuck as to we’re to fit radiators in the room, the living room is now open plan with the kitchen, the living room is around 8 m x 3 m plus the kitchen of approx 3 x 3 . We would probably end up looking at two systems one for each room , but just abit unsure if electric underfloor heating is capable and a good replacement for radiators for a room of this size ?or is just good for making the floor cozy ? a wet system is out the window due to flooring height etc . thanks in advance
 
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My friend at work put electric ufh in an en suite and he said his monthly bill was roughly £30 a month more in colder months with it running. This is due to it just taking the chill off the floor and not heating the room. I have looked at the low profile retro fit wet systems. Claimed to be an increased height of around 20mm with screed. Plus floor finish tiles/wood
 
Most people who have electric UFH put in stop using it after the first winter's bills come in.

Energy from electricity currently costs four or five times as much as energy from gas.
 
Your biggest problem will be when the Element fails , it will eventually , it’ll mean ripping up the Floor & starting again we had the same Problem in a Kitchen extension but managed to squeeze in two tall Upright radiators which look good and throw out some good Heat in what is a large space , or what about Plinth Heaters linked into the Central Heating system

cheers
Phil
 
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Cheers for the advise guys , we have decided against electric Speaking with a couple of people that use it , me and the mrs are now talking about wet ufh , our floor is typical tongue and groove floor boards ,at a guess around 22 mm thick . The usual stuff you see in older houses , then over this it will be underlay and carpet , the kits you see advertised show the pipe work fitted in insulation boards between the joists which look just the job , my concern is would this type of floor board fitted over the top as well as a carpet allow adequate heat to pass through ? What I’ve read up it usually says works best with engineer wood , tiles, etc etc and no mention of the usual floor board and carpet . Does anybody have any experience of this. Thanks again
 
Hi . The floor boards are just mounted on joists . The is a space around 2 ft to the main concrete pad .
 
I've just fitted a wet UFH, albeit on a concrete/ground floor.
You have to be careful when looking at wood/carpet, the usual disclaimer from the UFH manufacturers is 'check with flooring supplier'

If you want full efficiency from your heating I think you need to be looking at tiles/stone really as carpet/underlay/wood flooring block out some of the heat, and the idea is to heat the floor at a low temperature for longer, not like a radiator.

Mine has gone in a kitchen and I really wanted solid wood, but after research have gone stone.
 
Ar great . I thought about it possibly being a difficult one with the floor boards etc . Thanks for the response any way . Appreciate it .
 
Presumably your kitchen will not be carpeted.
 
No the kitchen will probably have some kind of laminate or tile, there will still be the issue of the thick floor boards though . Cheers
 
Download the polypipe ufh installation guide, it’s about 100 pages+ But it covers all floor types, it might give you some decent background info, regardless of which system you might pic.
 
UFH heating can be used with most floor coverings from concrete screed right through to carpet and vinyl, you just need to use the correct materials for the job and use the UFH correctly.

Of course harder materials, screeds/tiles etc will be a bit more efficient at thermal transfer initially on warm up but in a domestic setting, carpet and wood are perfectly capable or working perfectly well with UFH, just need to be careful with TOG ratings of the coverings/underlays and design the UFH and capacities correctly.

It's all about how the thermal mass is warmed to gain the correct air temperature, whatever material it is, once that's done then maintaining it is the same regardless.
 

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