Underfloor heating which way togo?

[foreverme]

So the kitchen work has started we are looking at installing underfloor heating the room size is 33sqm, we have oil heating (brand new boiler, so pretty efficient), the choice is between wet using the boiler or electric matts or wires...
The heating engineer says wet is the way togo, the spark says rubbish electric is the way much cheaper to run and more efficient, but neither at the moment can back this up with stats!! Any advice would be welcome..

[anonymous-user]

Wet is much cheaper to run - although the new electric mats are quite efficient these days I believe in small areas.

Biggest issue on a retro fit is have you got the depth to install a wet system?

If possible go wet.

[dazzalse]

We too have oil fired central heating, and whilst doing some renovations 3 years ago decided to put electric under floor heating in a 36sqm TV room as it was easier then running pipework in for wet underfloor heating. All I can say is that the running costs are huge. Over last winter when in use it was about 60p per hour, which seems small but added up over days and weeks is expensive. We are just in the process of having Radiators now put in this room as the savings will be huge. Hope this helps

[foreverme]

Thanks both, I too thought wet was the way togo..

[eliot]

Ask the spark what the wattage of the system. For every kilowatt - it will cost about 12p an hour to run.

[clockworks]

I had electric underfloor heating in the lounge of my last house. Speaking to the previous owner, it was installed like a hidden storage heater - buried in a 6" concrete slab, poured over an insulating layer - and ran on Economy 7. Worked very well once I removed the carpets and laid a tiled floor.

[jinkster]

Wet system is probably the best if your doing a self build. You cannot just connect it like a radiator it has to go through a manifold.

Electric - we have in our wet room and its fantastic. Fits perfectly underneath the travertine and keeps the floor warm when we need it.

Not noticed anything horrendous since fitting it. You do have to ask yourself do you want it to heat the kitchen or just take the chill off the floor?

[foreverme]

It's to heat the room so looks like wet is the way forward

[kingston12]

jinkster said:

Not noticed anything horrendous since fitting it. You do have to ask yourself do you want it to heat the kitchen or just take the chill off the floor?

This is the key difference. I have a wet system in my conservatory and it keeps the room as warm as I need it even in the coldest weather.

I also have a couple of rooms with the electric systems in and they are great at keeping the tiles warm underfoot, but I am not sure that they would really keep the room that warm on their own during the winter. I have heated towel rails in those rooms as well.

[jinkster]

We also have heated towel rail and the electric underfloor. I dont think the electric would warm the room sufficiently and economically in the depths of a Yorkshire winter.

[phelix]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Any particular insulation product you can suggest?

[caziques]

eliot said:

Ask the spark what the wattage of the system. For every kilowatt - it will cost about 12p an hour to run.

There are 10kW of energy in every litre of oil - hence it will be something like 7p a kilowatt.

Remember that with water pipes in the floor anything can be used as a heat source, your stuck with electric for life.

[Fuzzy400]

What floor do you have in your kitchen, is it joisted or solid (concrete/screeded)?

[phelix]

Am also thinking about that same polypipe overlay product. On the ground floor of our house (a Charles Church estate built in the late 80s) the tiles seems to be laid directly onto the slab and the laminate onto a thin layer of foam sheeting. That means the floor is always cold in the winter.

I recognise I will lose heat into the slab but I figure not a huge amount more than I'm losing into the floor at the moment. Adding a bit of insulation will surely help but how much without creating problems in raising the floor and the entrance doors?

[foz01]

I to have gone for the heavyweight overlay system, that's on a timber suspended floor which has been insulated, we put it in bathrooms already and it's great, we will be putting a uni click flooring on top.

Easy To install although can be fiddly if the room isn't square an will take some figuring out but it's a product I am
Impressed with!

[phelix]

foz01 said:

I to have gone for the heavyweight overlay system

I take it you mean the overlay as opposed to the overlay lite?

[foz01]

Correct

[herewego]

phelix said:

Am also thinking about that same polypipe overlay product. On the ground floor of our house (a Charles Church estate built in the late 80s) the tiles seems to be laid directly onto the slab and the laminate onto a thin layer of foam sheeting. That means the floor is always cold in the winter.

I recognise I will lose heat into the slab but I figure not a huge amount more than I'm losing into the floor at the moment. Adding a bit of insulation will surely help but how much without creating problems in raising the floor and the entrance doors?

The heat loss is proportional to the temperature so if the slab is heated to twice the room temperature you'll have twice the heat loss.