Underfloor heating discussion......

[alanperu]

The topic:

Underfloor heating is more expensive to run, less efficient and less responsive (in both heating up and cooling down) than conventional radiator based central heating?

OR

Underfloor heating has progressed significantly over recent years and is now just as efficient, cost-effective and responsive as rad based heating.


Discuss.......




PS - this relates to a family discussion over heating options in a kitchen and sun lounge where there is currently just a gas fire in the kitchen which is being removed and sun lounge just has a stand alone electric fire.

Thanks for any help/advice.

 

[simond]

I suggest you tell us where you heard that UFH used to be inefficient.

We fitted out a church 2 yrs back with new boilers and it had UFH, buried in the screed and walls. 1931. Still going strong.

The only significant recent advances in UFH are insulation and water mixing controls.

Discuss

 

[alanperu]

I suggest you tell us where you heard that UFH used to be inefficient.

We fitted out a church 2 yrs back with new boilers and it had UFH, buried in the screed and walls. 1931. Still going strong.

The only significant recent advances in UFH are insulation and water mixing controls.

Discuss

My Uncle had some friends who had some UFH installed several years ago (maybe about 10 years ago) and they complained that it cost them lots to run and took up to an hour to heat up properly.

I've suggested electric UFH as the best option in our current situation and have agreed to do a bit more research to find out if there are still problems with UFC or not. If I can give some tangible reasoning/evidence that this case was a one off (i.e. bad install) or that it was early(ish) technology (in domestic terms) which has now developed then I think they will go for it.

All I'm trying to do here is get a discussion going that hopefully I can then relay back to the family. Obviously if people in the know (you lot) say that rad based is still better in most circumstances then that's what I'll report back.

 

[BrynRovers]

This time of year RADS for me every time.
You can turn on RAD heating for 1/2 hour and get results, not so with Under Floor Heating.
Underfloor heating in a cold house can take a day to give you the results you need.
Pain in the bum as far as I am concerned.

 

[JohnD]

Electric heating is more expensive as electrical energy is more exensive than gas

Underfloor heating is less efficient that rads or convectors as the time lag means you will sometimes have it giving heat when not required

However it does give a pleasant background heat, especially if you are at home all day to appreciate it Once you have go the slab warm it is going to be giving out heat 24/365

I like it in a bathroom or front hall.

 

[alanperu]

Thanks for the replies.

It does sound like rad based is the way to go then.

It's a holiday cottage which gets closed up over the winter and there is definitely a need for a quick response - we all know what the weather can be like over in Wales.

I suppose it makes sense that UFH works better when ticking over constanty for a long period, rather than the 30 minute blast that you need when coming in from the pub!

 

[JohnD]

If you put in oversize radiators with TRVs, the boiler can work hard to get them all hot when you first arrive, and they will then give out a lot of heat to warm it quickly while the boiler has a rest.

I'm not in the heating trade, but I think I heard boilers are more efficient doing this than cycling on and off to heat a few galllons in little rads. It also gives you spare capacity for unusually cold conditions.

 

[simond]

Underfloor heating is designed to be controlled by a programmable thermostat or a timer that has long on periods. It has a latency of warming up and cooling down. You cannot satisfactorily switch it on when you come home.


However, due to the nature of the heat rising from the ground up, typically you will be very comfortable at at least 1 degree less room temp than a conventionally radiator heated system. This translates into 10% typical energy savings for space heating.

Furthermore, UFH uses lower water temperatures so a condensing boiler will be working in its highest efficiency band all the time.

So it is more economical to run than rads; there is no doubt.

If you are looking at a cottage in Wales you realise you would need to excavate the floor, put down insulation, then a 65mm concrete screed?