Water & Electric Underfloor Heating

Brief of what is under floor heating,

Warm air rises naturally! Conventional radiators throw heat up at head height, which rises to the ceiling only to drop downwards creating a cool draught around your feet.

Water underfloor heating and Electric underfloor heating systems, on the other hand, provide appropriately pleasant warm air for your feet, body and head. As underfloor heating produces only very gentle air circulation, the amount of travelling dust particles is reduced considerably, which is naturally a great relief for people with allergies or asthma.

Benefits of Water & Electric Underfloor Heating

Cost

It’s widely known that underfloor heating, has distinct advantages over conventional radiators.

Water underfloor heating systems 

Only require heating water for the system to a temp of 40 degrees thus receiving massive savings compared to having to heat radiators that require a minimum of 80 to 90 degrees.

Electric underfloor heating systems

Are widely regarded as the heat energy of the future, with the rising fuel and gas prices. Electric Underfloor heating has the same advantages over conventional radiators as does water systems but two massive benefits,

Electric Underfloor heating is approx 1/3( one third) the cost to install it compared to a water underfloor heating system it has a much faster warm up time and hence can be used as and when its required, making it far more flexible than water systems or conventional radiators.

Invisible heating

Due to the fact that Underfloor Heating can be hidden under the floor it gives exciting new possibilities for furnishing and interior design. The problem of design with space consuming and unattractive radiators no longer has to be considered.

Comfortable

You'll never tiptoe barefoot into your kitchen again! Underfloor heating means warmer floors, and less draught's means you're more comfortable in your home.

Electric & water underfloor heating makes the floor extremely comfortable to walk on providing a typical floor surface temperature of 22°C. Underfloor heating heats the area we live in rather than the ceiling!

Freedom of Interior design

Radiators in a home take up approximately 30% of wall space. The use of underfloor heating however gives great flexibility to design and room layouts ideal for any type of project.

Economically friendly

Thanks to optimal thermal positioning in the floor and precise temperature controls you'll use around 25 to 35% % less energy than with a conventional heating system, but in some cases it can be up to 40% cheaper to run than conventional heating.

Insulation

Before any flooring is installed a thorough assessment should be made as to the thermal insulation of the room and it's effectiveness with under floor heating. in any case the absolute primary objective should always be to insulate/insulate /insulate first.

The suitability of wood for under floor heating is as a result of it's low mass. Therefore when installed professionally, an experienced installer will always fully bond the wood directly to the under floor heating sub straight. This then creates a good physical path for heat to transfer it to the surface of your floor. nearly all the wood flooring companies only give a warranty for there floor as long as it's installed as a fully bonded, installation, as when the floor heats up, "if it is not bonded to the sub-straight" it will reduce the effectiveness of the under-flooring heating, and likely cause problems with the flooring in the medium term. 

The effectiveness of any under floor heating system is not just its ability to produce heat, careful consideration needs to be made to the suitability of the insulation. 

A number of very important factors should be considered:

The floor should be fully bonded 

The heat being produced is not being lost through the walls of older properties and through ceilings and large glass panels of any build. 

Insulation is key to a cost effective system ultimately the more appropriate the insulation is the less the system will cost you to run. The emphasis must be on appropriate, quality insulation in order for any under floor heating system to work effectively.

Floor Coverings

Electric underfloor heating is very flexible with its advanced controls, people are given flexibility and complete control over their heating system. People do not feel limited in choice for final floor coverings as both water & Electric underfloor heating can be used under lots of floors, however it’s always best to consult an expert, especially with electric systems.

Real Wood Engineered floor

Most wooden flooring is compatible with underfloor heating. When choosing real hardwood flooring, it is advised that a wood with a moisture content of less than 10% is selected and correctly stored and installed, by an expert who knows what they are doing.  Don’t let your builder do it, while most builders have all the skills and expertise to do the physicals its best to get a proper company who know what they are doing to do it.

Ceramic Tiles/Stone

Traditional cold materials such as ceramic tiles or flagstone flooring work very well with underfloor heating, as long as the sub floor is properly primed and sealed and a suitable adhesive is used to stick down the tiles, flexible tile adhesive is not cheap it is always best to consult an expert when choosing the materials.   It is unlikely the normal high street retail DIY chains sell or have appropriate knowledge in this so again consult your local experts.

Plastic or Vinyl

These types of flooring offer little resistant to heat transfer and therefore work well with  underfloor heating, again some care is need in the sub floor prep and as these are plastic, like wood floor, they do expand and contract, so they definitely need the correct materials and an  experts guidance.

Carpets

Most carpets are not suitable for underfloor heating, the tog rating is to high, but we supply an English manufactured  80 or 100% wool carpet that has a tog rating guaranteed to be less than 0.75.  These are no more expensive than conventionally manufactured carpets, so please ask us. When choosing it is important that the underlay is also suitable and does not have a high tog rating above 2.5.

More Information

Electric underfloor heating system

Water underfloor heating cooled system