Undefloor heating

jameshayes

sorry guys, i've searched for this but didn't find anything...

Can someone in the know please advise me if electric underfloor heating is worth the time, effort and cost of putting it down?

If I can use the following example;

110 sq meter house, with approx 70m2 of mats under well insulated floor, walls and attic. House currently has GFCH installed, i would like to remove raidators but i would like to keep radiators in the bathrooms (towel rails) while also having the underfloor heating in there too.

The main pro's for this consideration is:
- strongly dislike radiators
- the ability to heat each room on an individual level
- all floors in the house will be replaced so it will be possible to lay the mats at this time
- hopefully it will work out less expensive that gas

I think (if my sums are right) the system should cost me approx 3500 from one of those online DIY shops - what do you guys think?

If it is the case that the electric one is no good, I will have to stay with rads because the hydro one is out of the question, too much work

Thanks!

mercenary2

you need to figure out what kilo watt hours it would use to get a idea of the running cost . i would think gas would be a lot cheaper to run ,you say you are lifting the floors so would you concider laying under floor heating pipes of your gas central heating..under floor heating water temp would not need to be as high temp as rads do so would help keep the gas bill down

heinbloed

The OP wrote:

....I will have to stay with rads because the hydro one is out of the question,...

"Hydro" is Latin and means water. What sort of thermal distribution do you have at the moment? Air in the radiators?
(Edit:see correction below)

A heating engineer will do a thermal energy demand calculation for you according to EN12831.
With this calculation you can ask someone to give you an investment and running cost guarantee for let's say 10 or 20 years.
Without knowing the thermal demand no one is able to tell what would be the more economical or ecological solution.

correction: "Hydro" is derived from the Greek language and means "water"

eddieham

OP you mention "Mats", please be aware that when Devi existed in Ireland and UK, electric heating mats were only to be recommended for "floor warming" and not space/room heating, this was a policy introduced for a reason.
Heating "cables" laid below a concrete screed were recommended for space heating, in conjunction with a full heat loss calculation of the property/plans

liveandnetural

i second eddie on the mats being floor warmers.........i installed electric underfloor and belive it or not electric ceiling heating in the early 90s in the north of ireland where was a big push on the ecomony 7 system
but the home owner allways complained about the running costs
and they were well insulated house way way a head of there time !!

another thing the instlation of the mats can be tricky....they can be easly damaged while putting down ( you need to check the resistance readings before you fit them then when you put them down and after the finished floor is layed)
if they are going on timber joist floor with tile you need a very good stiff plywood subfloor with the right type of flexible grout

how are you going to keep your towel rad and do away with the rest of the rads?

freddyuk

What is your issue with radiators? For your current set up they are the best option as electric will not be cheap to run no matter what you do.
You can get some fantastic radiators that can go anywhere and still perform very efficiently. You do not need slabs of white metal under the windows.

Maybe try looking at some designer radiator sites. They can go up the wall or be hidden in skirting and do the job without massive bills for years to come.
I can suggest one source I can recommend if you PM me. I have two vertical rads and they are a feature not an eyesore.

Then to give you better control you need to install some zone valves and programmable thermostats to control any room or rooms. This will require some re piping but depending on your current setup could be vastly cheaper than what you are planning.

Stove Fan

freddyuk wrote: »

What is your issue with radiators? For your current set up they are the best option as electric will not be cheap to run no matter what you do.
You can get some fantastic radiators that can go anywhere and still perform very efficiently. You do not need slabs of white metal under the windows.

Maybe try looking at some designer radiator sites. They can go up the wall or be hidden in skirting and do the job without massive bills for years to come.
I can suggest one source I can recommend if you PM me. I have two vertical rads and they are a feature not an eyesore.

Then to give you better control you need to install some zone valves and programmable thermostats to control any room or rooms. This will require some re piping but depending on your current setup could be vastly cheaper than what you are planning.

I totally agree:) Why rip out a working gas heating system and replace it with something thats more expensive to run!!

Some designer rads and or some nice rad covers would be much better. You could also fit thermostatic radiator valves to control each room temp individually as well as zone the system.

Upgrading the rads and upgrading the heating controls would be a better investment.

Stove Fan:)

heinbloed

There are wet UFH heating mats as well, these can be supplied with thermal energy via an electric boiler....
It would be helpfull if the OP could show a thermal demand calculation.
Otherwise no answer can be given.