​What to know about underfloor heating

Apart from the oh-so heavenly warm feeling in your floors? With underfloor heating, there’s no need for ugly radiators sticking out like sore thumbs on your walls and taking up valuable space. With them out of the picture, suddenly we have an extra gap for other items like kitchen units, storage cabinets, perhaps even an extra sofa or doorway. 

In terms of costs, underfloor heating is also a very cost-effective way to warm up a room, making a huge dent in fuel bills. And unlike radiators, stoves or traditional solid-fuel fires, it provides the ultimate comfort levels by distributing heat evenly and gently. No more cold spots in a room! And seeing as most of the heat is concentrated in the lower part of the room, very little heat is wasted.

homify hint: Planning on adding underfloor heating to your kitchen? UFH runs on an independent thermostat. Therefore, if your cooker is generating a lot of heat, it’s possible to turn the heating off in the kitchen while keeping it on for the rest of the house. In terms of cleaning, UFH is much easier, seeing as there are no radiators generating grease and dust in a room. Underfloor heating also results in less air movement, meaning less dust movement, which is a dream come true for allergy sufferers.

Two main systems can be looked at: water, which runs through pipes as part of your regular heating system, and electric. 

Warm water: buried - This system involves planting 1.6cm pipes into the floor screed. The screed is then finished in the selected floor covering and the zoned system controlled by a manifold, usually located in a store cupboard. With this method, the whole floor slab becomes the heat emitter and ensures long-burn heat production. 

Pros: This is the most energy-efficient and low-cost way of opting for UFH. 

Cons: It requires a complete overhaul of the existing floor, which means it’s better suited to new floors / extensions. 

Warm water: surface mounted – Various companies have developed insulated panels with channels routed out for 1.2cm pipes to sit in. These can be laid on top of the existing floor structure. The panels add as little as 1.5cm to the floor height and use warm water in the same way as the buried systems.  

Pros: Easy-to-fit low-profile system.  

Cons: Quite expensive. Adding this system to certain rooms on a storey will result in level changes between the rooms. 

Electric - If you don’t want to raise your existing rooms’ floor levels, the electric system is your only choice. A well-known option for single rooms, electric systems operate with matting on to which cables connect into the home’s electrical circuit by thermostats. Electric underfloor heating mats are slim and can be laid within tile adhesive.  

Pros: Easy to retrofit. Perfect for individual rooms. Low-cost installations.   

Cons: Relatively high running costs compared to water systems.

Expect to pay upwards of about £100 per m² for water systems; from £50 per m² for electric, excluding preparation, underlay and installation. Electric systems are more expensive to run than wet systems, yet programmable timers can help cut down on costs. 

Materials only: 

• Electric mat = £35-80 per m² 

• Electric in screed = £20-90 per m² 

• Warm water, first 20m² = £80-120 per m² 

• Warm water, subsequent m² = £25-35 per m² 

• Controls = £80-150 per room

Installed system: 

• Electric mat = £70-120 per m² 

• Electric in screed = £60-110 per m² 

• Warm water, first 20m² = £120-160 per m² 

• Warm water, subsequent m² = £45-95 per m² 

• Controls = £100-200 per room

Due to the higher unit cost of electricity, warm water-based systems have lower running costs than electric. However, the electric system offers the lowest profile, increasing floor height by as little as 2mm. Their installation costs are also far less for small areas up to 20m².

Although underfloor heating is usually installed in ground-floor rooms, any type of floor construction can be fitted with the right system. 

For it’s possible to take up floors or new floors are being built, wet systems are most easily installed. Therefore, this option is better suited to new extensions, conservatories and new open-plan kitchens with living areas. 

Electric underfloor heating is mostly used for existing rooms, due to the electrical mesh system being flatter than a wet system. This means there is less need for floor heights to be altered to accommodate it. Clever inventions have even resulted in electrical mat systems that can be used under rugs on existing hard floors. 

For upper floor areas, electric systems are easier.

Solid wood floors 

Unless specified by the manufacturer, solid wood floors are not suitable. Engineered boards (comprising at least three layers of wood laid, with the grain of the centre layer running at right angles to the outer layers) are less prone to movement; therefore, most can be used with underfloor heating.

Wooden floors that want to be fitted with UFH need to have a top temperature restriction (approximately 27°C). An expansion gap also needs to be left around the edges, which can easily be hidden by a skirting board or trim. 

Carpet 

Almost all types of carpeting can be laid with underfloor heating, providing that the carpet and underlay have a thermal resistance under 2.5 tog. Indications show that, for the majority of carpet styles, the thermal resistance will be less than 1 tog.

Stone, ceramic, slate and terracotta 

Since these types of flooring options have become trendier with time, there has been an increase in the number of homes using UFH. Heat-up time depends on the thickness of the tiles. Although thick flagstones will take longer to reach optimum temperature, there will be no difference in heat quality between thick or thinner floor surfaces once this is reached. 

Vinyl- and laminate floors 

Not all laminates and vinyls are suitable for underfloor heating. Always check with the relevant flooring manufacturer and/or the heating installer before commencing this project. A lot of suppliers have developed their own underfloor heating systems, or can usually recommend one. 

Like we said, there is something about a crackling fireplace; thus, let’s see 10 red hot fireplaces that would turn up the heat in any home.