Underfloor Heating on Oil

[E36GUY]

Hello all.

Part 2 of my project isn't far off now. Just waiting on the architect to cross some Ts on the plans and produce the schedule of works then we're off to find a builder.

New kitchen is going to be a very large 50m2 so I've said I want underfloor heating. We heat on oil and the parts of the house we've already done are now pretty well insulated and nice and warm and the new bit we're adding will be insulted more so. I've never had an oil system before this place so don't have a lot of reference but at the moment, it doesn't look like we're using excessive amounts of oil despite having the heating on pretty much continuous at the moment. We had 500 litres delivered in March last year that is only just now about to be topped up.

Question is - if underfloor heating on an oil system going to kill me financially or is it swings and roundabouts compared to gas? I've heard electric is best avoided but happy to be corrected

[ClaphamGT3]

We have a water underfloor heating system in our house in France, heated by oil. It isn't really cripplingly expensive to run but it's major down-side is that it is very hard to temperature adjust, which was a night mare over Christmas when the ambient temp kept fluctuating between +10 and -2.

Also,mid you have a big space, you really need to make sure that any hard floor finish floats rather than being bonded to the floor and walls

[Muncher]

I don't see UFH being any more expensive than using radiators therefore the cost should not change.

I would however stick it down rather than having it floating, we have approx 110 square meters all stuck down and it works perfectly, I definitely would not want it floating if given the option.

[Andehh]

You have a big space, heating it either way will cost you.

Wet UFH is more efficient then radiators, and far better at an even heat distribution. Rads would be tricky heating the 'centre' of the space as well.

Wer UFH = win, win for you IMO.

[maccas99]

We have this system throughout our bungalow and by my reckoning it's slightly more expensive than traditional radiators. The main reason for this is because ours is a retrofit so insulation panels with the pipes running in grooves, then a floating floor on top, then either carpet or tile.

I don't really mind that it's more expensive as I prefer having warm feet! Plus we will be switching to an air source heat pump in the near future to take oil out of the equation. For reference, our kitchen/diner is 35m2.

[Sheepshanks]

E36GUY said:

Question is - if underfloor heating on an oil system going to kill me financially or is it swings and roundabouts compared to gas? I've heard electric is best avoided but happy to be corrected

We had oil a long time ago and stuck with it even though gas had been put into the village as in the late 80's and 90's oil was way cheaper than gas. We did eventually switch over, more to get rid of the oil tank (it was built into the house) than anything else.

The comparison obviously depends on current prices of both fuels. I would guess there's nothing in it at the moment but of course oil is very volatile in price.

There's a kWh of heat comparison here but it's nearly 2yrs out of date: https://www.ovoenergy.com/guides/energy-guides/hea...

[foxoles]

My brother has oil fired underfloor heating. When he first moved in and got it to the right temperature his wife wanted, he found he'd used £1500 worth in one quarter.

[V8RX7]

UFH only works if you generally keep the heating on all day - in which case it should be cheaper than running rads all day.

Personally I generally run it for 1hr mornings and 6 at night - UFH simply doesn't work that way.

Oil is far cheaper than elec but you have to bear in mind oil prices are currently very cheap - they have been almost 3x higher in the past.

[E36GUY]

foxoles said:

My brother has oil fired underfloor heating. When he first moved in and got it to the right temperature his wife wanted, he found he'd used £1500 worth in one quarter.

This is only to be expected. If she's anything like most of the women I know they want it bloody tropical indoors and a battle over the thermostat ensues daily.

[maccas99]

E36GUY said:

This is only to be expected. If she's anything like most of the women I know they want it bloody tropical indoors and a battle over the thermostat ensues daily.

We have the main living area set to 22 and the rest at 20 as we have young children. As soon as they are a bit older they can start putting on jumpers! ;-)

[cerbfan]

Guy,

My kitchen and hall together are similar size with UFH run off oil and its no issue at all. In fact in the kitchen its set at 18 at night and 22 during the day, generally even in the depths of winter and with 2 walls virtually fully glazed the room drops to 19-20 degrees over night and the heating comes on for maybe 2 hours in the morning to raise it to 22 degrees and then that's it for the day and the temp just stays at 22 for the rest of the day without any more heating, think a lot of this is due to it being very well insulated, triple glazing and the heat from the appliances in the kitchen (fridge, freezer, 2 x wine fridge) and solar gain being enough to keep the place warm during the day.

Have a look here https://www.ufh.co.uk/ for UFH components, very helpful and will design the system for you off your plans and its very easy to fit yourself if you want to give it a go. Also I used a thin Anhydrite screed over the top of the insulation and UFH, really quick (3 hrs from arrival to finish) and a perfect finish.

[Muncher]

cerbfan said:

Guy,

Have a look here https://www.ufh.co.uk/ for UFH components, very helpful and will design the system for you off your plans and its very easy to fit yourself if you want to give it a go. Also I used a thin Anhydrite screed over the top of the insulation and UFH, really quick (3 hrs from arrival to finish) and a perfect finish.

The were 2-3x the price of the supplier I ultimately went for a few years ago using pretty much identical kit.

[Sheepshanks]

E36GUY said:

foxoles said:

My brother has oil fired underfloor heating. When he first moved in and got it to the right temperature his wife wanted, he found he'd used £1500 worth in one quarter.

This is only to be expected. If she's anything like most of the women I know they want it bloody tropical indoors and a battle over the thermostat ensues daily.

UFH is supposed to feel more comfortable though so you should be able to get away with lower thermostat settings than if using radiators, especially if the room is taller than standard.

[Andehh]

maccas99 said:

E36GUY said:

This is only to be expected. If she's anything like most of the women I know they want it bloody tropical indoors and a battle over the thermostat ensues daily.

We have the main living area set to 22 and the rest at 20 as we have young children. As soon as they are a bit older they can start putting on jumpers! ;-)

You love your family too much!

We are 16 degrees at night, 19 degrees during the day. £47/month in combined bills.

Anything over 20 degrees & I get very hot & irritable and am on the war path.

[E36GUY]

Thanks for all the responses all. Will crack on and get the system running off the oil.