Underfloor Heating 2024

I

imalwayshappy

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Hi,

We are looking at building an extension with porcelian tiles for flooring (kitchen,dining and sitting area). I cant decide should I install UFH as part of the extension. I know with tiles it is recommended given how cold they are but I have heard horror stories in relation to electricity bills as a result of UFH. Anyone have an idea of cost per m2 of underfloor heating also? I cant seem to find a straight forward answer to this.

Anyone have any expeirience with an open plan extension with tiles and just using Radiators? Do they regrt not putting in the UFH?

Thanks
 
can’t help with running costs. Our bills aren’t very high but it’s an apartment so difficult to compare, but I love not having radiators. No issues with decorating or furniture placement. Ours is easily controlled, thermostat in each room. And reacts rapidly.
Adding additional rads to your current system might be messy and expensive too. Worth bearing in mind.
 
I paid about €2300incVAT for the equipment to install 55sqm of UFH in our house last year, that included all piping/valves/pumps etc. Obviously it also needs to be plumbed in and all that.

The UFH will generally be supplied with hot water from your existing boiler/heatpump the same as if you installed radiators, so running cost wise there should be no difference, either way your boiler/heatpump will need to send X kilowatts of heat to that room to keep it the temperature you want it.

FWIW I would 100% put in UFH again, it is a far superior way to heat a home in my view. No wall space taken by radiators, heat is evenly distributed around the room with no hot areas near radiators, the temperature tends to be steady throughout the day because of the thermal mass of the slab and as you say no cold tiles, the floor will feel just luke warm (great for playing on the ground with kids).
 
Zenith63 said:
I paid about €2300incVAT for the equipment to install 55sqm of UFH in our house last year, that included all piping/valves/pumps etc. Obviously it also needs to be plumbed in and all that.

The UFH will generally be supplied with hot water from your existing boiler/heatpump the same as if you installed radiators, so running cost wise there should be no difference, either way your boiler/heatpump will need to send X kilowatts of heat to that room to keep it the temperature you want it.

FWIW I would 100% put in UFH again, it is a far superior way to heat a home in my view. No wall space taken by radiators, heat is evenly distributed around the room with no hot areas near radiators, the temperature tends to be steady throughout the day because of the thermal mass of the slab and as you say no cold tiles, the floor will feel just luke warm (great for playing on the ground with kids).
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Many thanks for this. Our area will be c. 45 square meters so no a million miles off. Have you noticed any shocking bills etc?
 
imalwayshappy said:
Many thanks for this. Our area will be c. 45 square meters so no a million miles off. Have you noticed any shocking bills etc?
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We swapped from a kerosene boiler to a heatpump at the time so our bills are 1/3 what they were either way. But as I say above, whether you use radiators or hydronic UFH makes zero difference to your bills, it's just a different way of emitting the exact same amount of energy. I suspect the people shocked by their bills installed electric UFH, which is certainly more expensive than boilers/heatpumps, but I presume that is not your plan for a space of this size?
 
It also means that if you do not have a heatpump now, you are future proofing. We put in underfloor heating when we renovated our bungalow 10 years ago. The floor area was similar or slightly bigger. We had an oil boiler and had to install mixing valves in the underfloor heating manifold to drop the 70 degree heat down to around 45 for the underfloor (rads in the bedrooms). It worked well,and underfloor is a joy to use. Rads in the bedrooms were perfect as we only need a quick blast of heat in the morning and nighttime.
When the boiler packed up last year we were able to install a heatpump and take out the mixer valves. The heatpump is now more efficient as it can send the lower temp water to the underfloor (weather compensated as well).
Definitely would recommend underfloor.
Oh, and also it's a South facing room, with large windows so the slab absorbs any winter sunshine and is a great thermal mass. in November last year the room got to 24 degrees simply from the sunshine (no heating on). Low winter sunshine hits the back wall, so the whole floor absorbs it.
 
Zenith63 said:
We swapped from a kerosene boiler to a heatpump at the time so our bills are 1/3 what they were either way. But as I say above, whether you use radiators or hydronic UFH makes zero difference to your bills, it's just a different way of emitting the exact same amount of energy. I suspect the people shocked by their bills installed electric UFH, which is certainly more expensive than boilers/heatpumps, but I presume that is not your plan for a space of this size?
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Lots to think about, yes I would be looking at installing the wet UFH connected to a gas boiler. We are knocking a wall and building out, will the builders need to dig out the floor to facilitate the pipework? They will be putting in the foundations obviously for the extension part but we would like to extend the UFH into our kitchen area which is part of the existing house if that makes sense? Thanks
 
Two options that I'm aware of
1. Dig out the kitchen floor and do a new, fully insulated, pour for the kitchen and extention.
2. I've seen where they chase the existing floor just to lay the pipes. Obviously cheaper but then you are losing heat down through the un-insulated floor.

If you are knocking out the wall, that's when you can take out the existing kitchen floor and create a uniform pour.

But as you said, lots to think about.
 
imalwayshappy said:
Lots to think about, yes I would be looking at installing the wet UFH connected to a gas boiler. We are knocking a wall and building out, will the builders need to dig out the floor to facilitate the pipework? They will be putting in the foundations obviously for the extension part but we would like to extend the UFH into our kitchen area which is part of the existing house if that makes sense? Thanks
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Buddyboy has given the two options, in our case we had the existing floors dug out, then went down deeper so a decent bit of insulation could be added. This sounds drastic but honestly once they get stuck into it it will be finished in no time, so unless you want to retain the tiles or kitchen units I would go for it, just look away as it's being done :).
 
As a plumber who installs UFH quite often you’d be best too have floor exposed,put down your tracks and lay your pipes,then screed over them.
Ufh can be connected too whatever heat source your running from.
Put in different zones too suit which area of house get most traffic.
 
imalwayshappy said:
Anyone have any expeirience with an open plan extension with tiles and just using Radiators? Do they regrt not putting in the UFH?

Thanks
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I have and (my feet) love the slight coolness of the tiles relative to the comfortable ambient room air temperature. I know I may be an outlier with this opinion but bare in mind I live in a refurbed Enerphit standard house with excellent air tightness etc so YMMV
 
Micks'r said:
I have and (my feet) love the slight coolness of the tiles relative to the comfortable ambient room air temperature. I know I may be an outlier with this opinion but bare in mind I live in a refurbed Enerphit standard house with excellent air tightness etc so YMMV
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I'm with you on this, but my opinion would be far stronger. I really disliked underfloor heating. My feet over heated and found myself wearing shoes more than normal indoors. I acknowledge, others may enjoy it - Even I did in a bathroom, but not in a kitchen standing cooking.
 
dem_syhp said:
I'm with you on this, but my opinion would be far stronger. I really disliked underfloor heating. My feet over heated and found myself wearing shoes more than normal indoors. I acknowledge, others may enjoy it - Even I did in a bathroom, but not in a kitchen standing cooking.
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Was that electric bathroom floor heating rather than hydronic/wet UFH? Those electric bathroom UFH setups tend to heat up very quickly and to a high temperature to dry the floor etc. Hydronic UFH is totally different, heating the floor to just slightly above ambient room temperature (maybe 20-25 degrees). Generally you’ll struggle to tell the UFH is even on if it’s setup right.
 
Zenith63 said:
Was that electric bathroom floor heating rather than hydronic/wet UFH? Those electric bathroom UFH setups tend to heat up very quickly and to a high temperature to dry the floor etc. Hydronic UFH is totally different, heating the floor to just slightly above ambient room temperature (maybe 20-25 degrees). Generally you’ll struggle to tell the UFH is even on if it’s setup right.
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No standard underfloor heating over the entire house. I just don't like the feeling of it with tiles. I could easily feel the difference in socks or bare feet. Didn't like it at all, but as i said, I believe that others like it, just not for me.
 
dem_syhp said:
No standard underfloor heating over the entire house. I just don't like the feeling of it with tiles. I could easily feel the difference in socks or bare feet. Didn't like it at all, but as i said, I believe that others like it, just not for me.
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I think people often have bad experiences when the its run at a high temperature. It is a shame when this happens as you lose the efficiency gains. Most UFH companies dont run heat loss assessments. It is also a risk if you are using very narrow pipes.
 
I agree with @Zenith63 . If UFH is set up correctly you really shouldnt feel it on your feet as noticible additional warmth or heat. Its should be almost neutral and ambient in tune with room tempt. Yes, you wont have freezing cold tiles in winter but they also shouldnt be warm. That suggests not set up right.
 
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