electric underfloor heating

[VoltzElectrical]

yo dudes

I just may be taking down my double conservatory and rebuilding in blockwork. This area of the rural house I live in contains the kitchen and bathroom and dog' clothes drying area. I am on oil central heating and thinking about electric underfloor heating if we go ahead.

I would appreciate some input regarding design/ manufacturers/ suppliers/ control/ consumption/ or anything else I haven't thought about.

I've read a bit in PE from the wholesalers and in some self build magazines, but am trying to distill this into an understandable picture and thought maybe some experienced installers/ designers on here might be able to add some valuable input whilst I wait on the architect and planning.

Cheers all.

Voltz

 

[Engineer54]

Not considered a piped underfloor heating system fed from your oil fired boiler??

To be totally honest, i've never come across an electrical heating system that i'd even consider employing in any property of mine. They are basically not very controllable and tend to cost an arm and a leg to run.

Unfortunately these days, i don't have any idea of the comparison between the costs of the different fuels (elec, gas, oil etc) so things may well have changed as far as running costs are concerned....

 

[telectrix]

YOU'RE LOOKING AT BETWEEN 125w AND 240w/SQ.M.

 

[VoltzElectrical]

YOU'RE LOOKING AT BETWEEN 125w AND 240w/SQ.M.

Hi Tel.

What does this actually mean and why. I'd like to research the whole concept lest I make a costly error.

All I've done before with this stuff is tack it to a plywood substrate prior to the tilers coming in and it was in my first year in to this career when all I was doing apart from this was installing back boxes and flexible conduit and basic second fix.

When this extension possibility, started to rear it's head out of the ashes of a neighbour dispute over a retaining wall I inherited (long story) I started to think about how to efficiently heat the structure without involving the (very old) oil fired combi. I have a lovely wood burner that heats the rest of the house (by convection not back boiler) and an electric shower so the combi only comes on twice a day for a bit of hot water.

Looking at the PE magazine etc.. there seems to be several manufacturers, I was asking really if people had any preferences or ones to avoid. I'm also interested in advice over control systems.

Tel, you seem to be hinting at Heat output. Is there a calculation to work out this requirement.

I would also be interested to hear of people's experience of UFH under different floor coverings. I'm also aware of backing boards to improve the efficiency.

This forum is my first port of call. If people want to redirect me to a design site or a recommended manufacturer's site that provides such answers, i would appreciate it.

What I am basically hoping is that someone reads this who installs UFH who can give me a bit of guidance on the do's and don'ts.

Sorry for the long reply.

Voltz

PS - architect coming at the end of the week to look at the job.

x

 

[telectrix]

there's a company called ambient. try and get a link. they will help with design, running costs etc. the backing boards are essential as they insulate below the element so that most of the heat comes up instead of down.

Electric Underfloor Heating | Underfloor Heating Solutions

have a look on their website.

 

[davesparks]

As a general rule electric underfloor heating is good for warming up the cold bathroom floor tiles, wet underfloor heating is good for heating the room

 

[VoltzElectrical]

As a general rule electric underfloor heating is good for warming up the cold bathroom floor tiles, wet underfloor heating is good for heating the room

Cheers all, but as far as I am aware, wet underfloor isn't really viable at the moment but in a discussion with the missus tonight ( who works in retail gas) we might look at replacing the old boiler with an new LPG one with tank in the garden.)

I want to fully explore all possibilities (including renewables) before going ahead to make sure I get it all right.

So, next question.... what options do I have re:renewable energy for hot water/ elect etc or rather, where best to go for info on my options.

I will be asking the architect the same questions when he visits site and will report back BTW.

Thanks again

 

[a1guvner]

If you are going to use the UFH as a primary heat source you will need to go for the higher rated wattage, I would say at least 200w, if it is a large area i would work out your square meterage to work out your total wattage so you can forecast the running cost, a controller i use which is very good is the [url]http://www.warmup.co.uk/products/thermostats/3ie-thermostat/ [/URL] it also has a setting in there with your estimated running costs and looks very flash on the wall..............