First house, want to retrofit Underfloor Heating. Many Questions

[OnlyHumanHere]

Hi there,


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


Floor plan




First problem is, no gas mains in the village. This means it currently has an immersion heater to supply hot water , 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 and 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' 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 stairs, 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 Parquet 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?

 

[Midwest]

Don't think we are going to convince the OP against ufh. Think he's been advised as best as we can.

 

[sean_ork]

Don't think we are going to convince the OP against ufh. Think he's been advised as best as we can.

Nothing wrong with UFH, as long as its the right type, and done as a combined job of installing lots and lots of insulation, and a fair bit of digging down.

 

[Midwest]

Nothing wrong with UFH, as long as its the right type, and done as a combined job of installing lots and lots of insulation, and a fair bit of digging down.

Not disagreeing, if you've read my other posts. Just not realistically achievable with this property.

 

[sean_ork]

Not disagreeing, if you've read my other posts. Just not realistically achievable with this property.

There's nothing structurally preventing proper wet UFH being installed, thats just money, effort and time - perhaps the disruption and need to have it all in with 2 months makes doing the job properly unrealistic.

 

[Midwest]

There's nothing structurally preventing proper wet UFH being installed, thats just money, effort and time - perhaps the disruption and need to have it all in with 2 months makes doing the job properly unrealistic.

Give me strength!

 

[davesparks]

There's nothing structurally preventing proper wet UFH being installed, thats just money, effort and time - perhaps the disruption and need to have it all in with 2 months makes doing the job properly unrealistic.

How do you know that there's nothing structurally preventing it? With the age of the building there may be very limited foundations which may then require underpinning before the floors can be dug out far enough to get a concrete slab cast to then get a thick enough insulation layer down.

 

[sean_ork]

How do you know that there's nothing structurally preventing it? With the age of the building there may be very limited foundations which may then require underpinning before the floors can be dug out far enough to get a concrete slab cast to then get a thick enough insulation layer down.

My point is that it's a fairly normal house, its structurally indentical to 100,000s of other, there's nothing to stop UFH being installed, it almost certainly will have shallow founds - but that's nothing that hasn't been resolved before, just needs time effort and disruption - MW implied that UFH just wasn't "realistically achievable" which certainly isn't right, but will need a change of view by the home owner.

Any type of UFH, or any other form of space heating with no associated insulation and air tightness work is pointless, unless they like big bills.

I'm hoping the OP extends his timescales and does the job properly - remembering that you only pay once to do the job properly, you'll be forever paying high energy bills if you install a thermally compromised solution.

 

[telectrix]

i heard today that they're scrapping the original Enterprise 1701. dylithium crystals now on ebay . power and heat for 300 years.:grinningelf:

 

[davesparks]

My point is that it's a fairly normal house, its structurally indentical to 100,000s of other,

How can you tell that? As far as I can tell it's a 1920's built converted schoolhouse with a thatched roof in Wiltshire.
So it is not going to be like a fairly normal house as most normal houses weren't built as schools and thatch roofs are not all that common except in isolat dare as of the country.

 

[sean_ork]

I can tell as much as you can, it is not a unique structure - it is suitable for retro fitting UFH of the type I have described.

 

[Midwest]

MW implied that UFH just wasn't "realistically achievable" which certainly isn't right, but will need a change of view by the home owner.

I'm hoping the OP extends his timescales and does the job properly - remembering that you only pay once to do the job properly, you'll be forever paying high energy bills if you install a thermally compromised solution.

I do not have a negative view of the system, I would consider it's installation in a property of my own. But I wouldn't consider it, if I had to pay to remove an existing screed floor, pay for the accumulated waste to be disposed and then pay for someone to reinstate the finished floor. As someone else mentioned, there is also the ancillary cost of reinstating wood finishes etc. I'm guessing at £800-900 per average room? That's why I said, in my opinion, it was not realistically achievable.

In a property of this age, the existing finished floor and sub floor, may well be in need of renovation. Then it might be viable.

It is up to the OP how he spends his money, but he does mention at least once, he has financial limitations. Anything is achievable, as long as you have deep pockets.

 

[sean_ork]

It is up to the OP how he spends his money, but he does mention at least once, he has financial limitations. Anything is achievable, as long as you have deep pockets.

He said he's got 10k to spend on boiler, UFH and laminate - that's fairly healthy just for that element of the works, obvioulsy that will change if he does the job properly.

He's also said that this will be their forever home - that's a signicant statement - they will be paying energy bills forever.

What's the point of throwing in a cheap to install, cripplingly expensive to run heating system now - you only pay for a proper job the once, you'll be paying energy bills forever.

You are correct, it is the OPs money not ours to spend for him.

 

[sean_ork]

...well beyond my expertise.

What's the EPC rating of your new home ?

 

[Midwest]

He said he's got 10k to spend on boiler, UFH and laminate - that's fairly healthy just for that element of the works, obvioulsy that will change if he does the job properly.

He's also said that this will be their forever home - that's a signicant statement - they will be paying energy bills forever.

What's the point of throwing in a cheap to install, cripplingly expensive to run heating system now - you only pay for a proper job the once, you'll be paying energy bills forever.

You are correct, it is the OPs money not ours to spend for him.

By my calculations and guesstimate, that's about 5k on digging up & putting back the floor.

 

[sean_ork]

By my calculations and guesstimate, that's about 5k on digging up & putting back the floor.

This is rather pointless, the OP has stated he's happy to do some relatively unskilled tasks - and its never been suggested that the system I've mentioned would fit within his stated budget - do a job once and do it right, its their forever home, that's my point.