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OnlyHumanHere

Hi there,


So first things first, just bought myself my first house 20151120_154608.jpg. 1920's build in Wiltshire. Should have the keys to it next week, can't wait.


Floor plan l8u81i4uNEiqib8Bo7vlxA.jpg




First problem is, no gas mains in the village. This means it currently has an immersion heater to supply hot water 20151125_165423.jpg20151125_165447.jpg, storage heaters for heat and the oven/hob connected to gas bottles stored outside on the side of the house.


So, after doing a bit of research and planning with my wife, we want to scrap the storage heaters 20151120_161302.jpg 20151120_161337.jpgand go for water UFH with a free floating 8mm laminate flooring Something on the lines of this . Looking around, I think prowarm seem to do a good job with supplying all the parts we need, being bought from Theunderfloorheatingstore (regarded fairly highly online and seemed very helpful on the phone).


Now, my main concern is what to do with the heating element. I've spoken to a few specialists and I've been told either keep the immersion heater for the sink/bath water and get something like a 'Slim Jim'ehc-slim-jim-electric-flow-boiler-26463-p.jpg electric boiler for the UFH. Obviously the guy that recommended that was the website that sells it. However, again it's reviewed rather well and it'd be nice to keep all the product coming from one place.


Another plumber I spoke to recommended to scrap the immersion heater and get a combi boiler. He did say that if it was him, he would probably look at LPG combi boilers over an electric boiler for the long term cost saving (did a bit of research and yes, lpg is much cheaper than electric). However, when it comes to boilers, I'm completely lost as to what I need.


So my questions are...


* Keep the immersion tank or scrap it?
* Get an LPG combi boiler, electric combi boiler or just a stand along boiler for the UFH and keep the immersion tank.
* If I was to take the immersion tank out, should I put the new boiler in it's place? If so, would I need 1 or 2 UFH manifolds for each floor?
* I was thinking about putting the whole system (manifold and boiler) under the stairs20151120_161232.jpg, would that make sense?
* Apart from the kitchen (which is tiled) and the reception (which is original parquet), the rest of the house is carpeted, is it relatively straight forward to just rip the carpet up, lay down the floating floor, insert piping, cover and just throw the laminate on top?
* One guy I spoke to said I would probably need to manifolds, 1 for each floor. Is that right?
* rippiing up the Parquet20151120_161343.jpg and tiles in the kitchen, is there anything I should know before doing so?


I plan to try and get most the humping and dumping, laying the insulation for the piping, the piping and laminating myself, however I will be getting professional help for the installation and testing of the equipment.




Final Question, with multizone UFH...is the NEST thermostat (Gen 2) still a good option?






I hope I haven't made things too complicated.












TL: DR....Want to install UFH, in the UK, what is a recommended brand? Should I scrap my Immersion heater for an electric or LPG combi heater? Is it all worth it?
 
I've never yet seen plumbers test underfloor heating other than filling it up and seeing where the water ****es out. What tests are you thinking of

Point taken, however I will be asking them in their forums the same question so I get a good set of responses I can use to make my judgement well advised :)
 
you could pipe a separate diverter/ 2port valve from the standard system to the immersion, it would have to be manually done. Bit heath robinson but could get you out a jam.
 
you could pipe a separate diverter/ 2port valve from the standard system to the immersion, it would have to be manually done. Bit heath robinson but could get you out a jam.

Do you mean install a diverted in the DHW pipework from the combi and the outlet pipe of the cylinder? That's going to bring a whole host of issues for compliance with water regs I think!
 
I've looked into that option but the problem is, from what I've been told, it's far more expensive to keep the house warm. My wife works at home and we have a 5 month old.
our government is keen to erect these eyesore windmills al over the land and seascape. see if they'll stick a couple up in your back garden. free leccy for your heating.
 
our government is keen to erect these eyesore windmills al over the land and seascape. see if they'll stick a couple up in your back garden. free leccy for your heating.


I personally don't mind them, thankfully though, we don't have a garden...annoyingly, we're in a preservation area and have been told we're not allowed to install solar panels on our South facing roof....madness.
 
With tin hat. OP I would suggest you contact one of the various companies that offer wet UFH systems and ask their advice and see what could be achieved. UFH function slightly differently to wall hung heating systems, at a lower constant heat. You will need adequate insulation installed for it to be economical. Digging up concrete floors, to allow for insulation/pipe & screed will not be cheap, and certainly disruptive. It might be attractive as a more modern alternative, but perhaps wall hung might be more reasonably priced. But it's your money.
 
Heating water using an electric boiler for UFH makes no sense to me, might as well use electric underfloor heating, however I am with the majority here and use LPG with a decent sized tank from Flogas or Calor, you could also use a oil fired boiler and have a tank outside if you have the space. You could either go combi or system boiler and retain a cylinder but if you do, go for an unvented cylinder they are miles better and don't require a header tank in the loft. If you go wet UFH, then I would have one manifold for living rooms downstairs and one manifold for bedrooms and a separate manifold for bathrooms. There are loads of options here depending on budget, how long you intend to stay there and how much disruption you can cope with. Get a couple of heating firms in and get them to recommend a solution / options. I am sure they will be OK with you doing some grunt work...
 
Heating water using an electric boiler for UFH makes no sense to me, might as well use electric underfloor heating, however I am with the majority here and use LPG with a decent sized tank from Flogas or Calor, you could also use a oil fired boiler and have a tank outside if you have the space. You could either go combi or system boiler and retain a cylinder but if you do, go for an unvented cylinder they are miles better and don't require a header tank in the loft. If you go wet UFH, then I would have one manifold for living rooms downstairs and one manifold for bedrooms and a separate manifold for bathrooms. There are loads of options here depending on budget, how long you intend to stay there and how much disruption you can cope with. Get a couple of heating firms in and get them to recommend a solution / options. I am sure they will be OK with you doing some grunt work...


We're in no rush to move in to be honest...I'm planning to move in after about 2 months...which is the reason why I'm happy to try my best with a lot of the work....I have time for mistakes and also don't need to worry about living in a workshop.


Is there a reason why you recommend a cylinder? Isn't just a combi on it's own with a heat on demand system better? (remember I've no idea what I'm talking about so if that didn't make sense please tell me....it kind of made sense to me though haha).

We plan to make this our forever home...it's not going to be an investment we plan to sell after doing up so we're happy to throw money in it if it makes our lives more comfortable for longer.

Unvented cylinders can last 30 years? am i right?

Don't have space outside for an oil tank...kind of just have space for gas bottles (like 100cm in height).

Our kitch oven/hop is connected to gas bottles outside but I'm not sure what kind of gas it is.

I'd say our budget...including boiler, ufh, laminate flooring is about £10k...give or take a bit.
 
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2months isn't long enough to do the job properly, you're talking about removing all of the floors, insulating and relating them!
If you're going to insulate properly then you'll be putting a good 6/8" of decent insulation down, not just those daft 1" thick panels.
 
We're in no rush to move in to be honest...I'm planning to move in after about 2 months...

I'd say our budget...including boiler, ufh, laminate flooring is about £10k...give or take a bit.
Best allow about 2k as well for some dynamite to excavate the existing floors. Seriously get some professional advice about feasibility before getting too excited about wet ufh.
 
2months isn't long enough to do the job properly, you're talking about removing all of the floors, insulating and relating them!
If you're going to insulate properly then you'll be putting a good 6/8" of decent insulation down, not just those daft 1" thick panels.


wait what? 2 months? you've got to be kidding!

How long does it take to rip carpet up and lay down some insulation? It's floating UFH, no requirement for screed. there's surely no need for the best part of a foot of insulation.
 
wait what? 2 months? you've got to be kidding!

How long does it take to rip carpet up and lay down some insulation? It's floating UFH, no requirement for screed. there's surely no need for the best part of a foot of insulation.

Sorry, I thought you'd said you wanted to do the job properly as its a house you intend to live in for a long time?
6" is half a foot, not the best part of it.
Laying ufh on top of a 1920's solid floor construction is going to waste the vast majority of the heat energy in warming up the mass of solid floor under it. If it's a hollow wooden floor construction then it hasn't got a hope in hells chance of heating anything without a lot of insulation being installed under the floor!
Years ago a I worked on one where they laid ufh into an existing wooden ground floor with just a 4" layer of fibreglass between the joists. When it was all done you could just about feel a slightly warmer patch directly above each pipe and the room was freezing.

You need a good thick insulation layer of you want to actually hear the rooms, preferably with the pipes buried in a screed on top of it to create a big thermal store.
 
We're in no rush to move in to be honest...I'm planning to move in after about 2 months...which is the reason why I'm happy to try my best with a lot of the work....I have time for mistakes and also don't need to worry about living in a workshop.


Is there a reason why you recommend a cylinder? Isn't just a combi on it's own with a heat on demand system better? (remember I've no idea what I'm talking about so if that didn't make sense please tell me....it kind of made sense to me though haha).

We plan to make this our forever home...it's not going to be an investment we plan to sell after doing up so we're happy to throw money in it if it makes our lives more comfortable for longer.

Unvented cylinders can last 30 years? am i right?

Don't have space outside for an oil tank...kind of just have space for gas bottles (like 100cm in height).

Our kitch oven/hop is connected to gas bottles outside but I'm not sure what kind of gas it is.

I'd say our budget...including boiler, ufh, laminate flooring is about £10k...give or take a bit.

Combi's are great for small houses and few occupants (preferably men, lol) A combi has to heat water instantaneously and as the water demand grows, i.e. if there are two demands for hot water, shower and say washing up, flow will be reduced to keep the temp up. If you say start a family and have all girls (like me) then a large tank unvented of course is a god send, the boiler runs in whisper mode to heat up the tank rather than full turbo mode and as such, such is the laws of physics, it works out cheaper and better. I have two tanks, one for me and one for the girls so I don't have to negotiate who has a bath / shower when etc etc.

As for gas bottles...... mmmmm, worth a chat to flogas just to see if a proper tank is feasible, there are certain minimum distances and the like but it may be doable, who knows.
 
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First house, want to retrofit Underfloor Heating. Many Questions
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