Is Underfloor Heating Worth It

[plumjob]

Does anyone have a view on whether underfloor heating is worth it? We're currently building an extension (approx 30m2) and wondering whether to go for plumb underfloor heating or just stick with radiators. As I understand it, the advantages for us are:

U/F heating uses water at a lower temperature, so more efficient
We've installed a zonal valve so that the extension can be managed independently of the rest of the house
The extension has a vaulted ceiling, so a large air space to warm with radiator

Disadvantages:
We have wooden floors - is the efficiency really still OK with this?
We tend to run our CH early morning and evening only, which seems an inefficient way to run U/F heating......does this mean that any efficiency gains from using U/F heating are lost, or do we just need to adjust the way that we use it to get the benefits?
Is an estimate of 1 hour warm up time with a wooden floor reasonable?

Thanks in advance....

 

[oldplumber]

rads for what you say, will work but why not electric underfloor for extension as you are right in saying it needs to be on to build up a thermal store of heat to warm the room. best in new builds where whole system is uf when using heated water systems.

 

[plumjob]

rads for what you say, will work but why not electric underfloor for extension as you are right in saying it needs to be on to build up a thermal store of heat to warm the room. best in new builds where whole system is uf when using heated water systems.

If we go for underfloor, I was planning to use heated water. Do you prefer electric?

 

[Gray0689]

Underfloor heating for what you are describing can be used as you want but depends on the type of screed you use a few on Market at min

Sand cement longer heat up time but then heat will be stored in thermal mass

Liquid screed ( google cemax look on there ) is put in much thinner and releases heat a lot quicker more like a rad

 

[Billy Bob Bob]

fitted it,you need to anticipate what the weather is going to do to get it up to temp,if you have it fitted have the option of adding a rad later

 

[Toddyplumb]

If it was me I would go the underfloor heating route. As Gas man says it would be dead easy to put a couple of pipes in in case you ever wanted a rad or 2

 

[HoodedClaw]

I find UF heating is only really useful as primary heating in a whole house, whenever its used as part property heating it always ends up being secondary 'party' heating. getting the balance through the house is difficult this the rad/UF mix.

An hour is right for electric to heat up, but wet UF will take longer as its tuns a lot cooler.

 

[dontknowitall]

I think it depends on the layout of the house. Our house is T shaped - main house, utility room, sitting room with the kitchen joining all three.

We've electric underfloor heating in the utility room (dogs room), main living room (large vaulted ceiling with log burner) and bathroom. None of these rooms has a radiator. The heating has only just been turned on this week but the Rayburn has been going since early October and the log burner's been going since then as well. The Rayburn is near to the centre of the house so the heat does permiate (speling?) around the house from this.

The bathroom floor was turned on recently (tiled floor) and the the utility room and sitting room have not yet been turned on. The utility room gets most of it's heat from the kitchen and the sitting room is heated by the log burner. It's cold in the room during the day and the fire is lit at around 4:30pm.

Lots of detail but it's to help indicate how the heating works in the house (for us at any rate).

Although I'm a plumber I'd go for electric heating again (and have installed it for a customer as well for their bathroom with a HTR on the central heating). It was quick to install and there are no worries about sludge, air locks, cold patches or general running. Also it's only a few millimeters high as opposed to a centimeter or two.

It works best running at a low temperature and using other direct heat as the main source of heating. For example, the log burner is the direct heat for the sitting room and if it gets really cold in there or we have guests during the day (Sunday lunch) then we'll light the fire much earlier but also turn the floor on the day before.

The more I do plumbing the more I think the old fashioned systems are best - vented hot water cylinder, system boiler and radiators. I think when a house is really well insulated then underfloor heating works much better as not much heat is lost. Our utility room is insulated to better standard than current building regs and when the floor is turned on it roasts in there. It's also great for drying out the dogs and laundry!

I feel underfloor heating is one of these great modern contraptions which looks great but at the end of the day, costs more money than the value it gives. (A little like unvented cylinders which require a call out once every few years whereas a vented cylinder can often be left for 30 years without any attention.)