UFH: Not so good vibrations...

[BuzzyHolly]

Hi,


I'm hoping someone can help me with this strange sensation...


About 3 months ago I installed electric underfloor heating in my bedroom. I laid the mats and tiled, the electrician connected everything up for me. He also re-wired the whole house as we were renovating a very old property.


This morning I noticed that when I touched my wife's face or body, there was a strange buzzing sensation, like an electric charge was going through our bodies (and not in a good way!). I was standing bare foot on the underfloor heating, she was lying in a cast iron bath in the same room. When I turned off the UFH, it stopped. As soon as I turned it back on, the charge returned.


The same thing happens to my wife whenever she uses her laptop anywhere in the house whilst it's on charge. Her fingers tingle and when she touches me we can both feel it. If she touches close to my ear I can hear the buzzing too.


Does anyone know what could be causing this and if it's dangerous? I'm particularly worried about having a bath with the UFH on in case we get electrocuted.


Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

 

[DPG]

I would get a spark in sharpish to check the bonding is in place, and do some basic tests on the UFH circuit. Let us know the findings though Out of interest did you get certificates for the work done? Daz

 

[Darkwood]

As with all underfloor heating it requires testing during install and just before commisioning to ensure it has no leakage, I recommend you call a competent Electrician out ASAP, if you can feel touch voltages even if they don't hurt it shows signs of a bigger issue which could be very dangerous. I would not use your underfloor heating as a precaution and as this occurs not just with your UFH it points to a issue effecting the installation as a whole and really needs immediate investigation.

Does you UFH have RCD protection and do other circuits in your house have RCD protection?

I would also recommend the Electrician you call out is not the one who wired your house, this way you can get a second opinion on the safety of his install, as oppose to the original sparky trying to cover his tracks of what could be a poor install with safety issues.

 

[BuzzyHolly]

Yes we have an RCD luckily, the re-wiring was only carried out 3 months ago so meets all the latest requirements (or so I've been told!).

The electrician that did the job has been back to fix the electrics a few times since the re-wiring and every time he gives us a different reason as to why there are problems but as soon as he fixes one thing, a new problem seems to arise elsewhere in the house, usually after he leaves.

I've had another 2 electricians out since as I worried that the first one might not be competent enough to solve the problem (he is qualified and was recommended), but they can't work it out either and advised me to get the original electrician back as he would be best placed to locate the issue in his work. This was all prior to the UFH heating / buzzing issue which I only noticed today. I'll have to get him back to fix the problem but I was hoping someone might have had a similar experience and be able to offer possible causes for the buzzing so I know what to expect from his quote / whether he should be fixing it because of a fault in his initial work.

 

[bigspark17]

As asked previously was an EIC (electrical installation certificate) issued with the rewire? You 100% need to get the original spark back and understand clearly his reasoning for the faults, not get fobed off. Main equapotential bonding needs checking and insulation resistance values of ufh circuit in particular. Failing this yes get another spark in.. Post your location may be a member on here close to you wiling to inspect this intreging problem!

 

[Darkwood]

Without investigating myself its just random shots in the dark, I would recommend getting what I would call a seasoned Electrician in, someone that's been around the block twice and has many years behind their belt, faults like these can require some experience to trace them.

Were you supplied with a full set of certificates for the rewire?

It does worry me a tad he has been back several times sorting problems out, I take it the other Electricians you called out didn't find anything untowards regarding the install?

 

[Octopus]

Yes we have an RCD luckily, the re-wiring was only carried out 3 months ago so meets all the latest requirements (or so I've been told!).

The electrician that did the job has been back to fix the electrics a few times since the re-wiring and every time he gives us a different reason as to why there are problems but as soon as he fixes one thing, a new problem seems to arise elsewhere in the house, usually after he leaves.

I've had another 2 electricians out since as I worried that the first one might not be competent enough to solve the problem (he is qualified and was recommended), but they can't work it out either and advised me to get the original electrician back as he would be best placed to locate the issue in his work. This was all prior to the UFH heating / buzzing issue which I only noticed today. I'll have to get him back to fix the problem but I was hoping someone might have had a similar experience and be able to offer possible causes for the buzzing so I know what to expect from his quote / whether he should be fixing it because of a fault in his initial work.

Alarm bells ringing!

 

[BuzzyHolly]

Thanks so much for the responses, this is the first time I've used a forum and I thought I'd be lucky to get any replies at all, so I'm very grateful for all the advice.

I haven't been given the paperwork yet as the job isn't completely finished - my builder is still rebuilding the garden wall and needs the electrician to wire up the outdoor lights, once he has done that the electrician can sign off the job fully. My builder has worked with him many times before so I feel quite confident that he will finish the job, it's just his inability to explain the problems that concerns me.

My electrical knowledge is fairly limited, but one thing that I found unusual about the install is that nothing is on a ring circuit, whereas I know that in my last home the cooker was on a separate ring circuit. When I questioned the electrician about this he said that the reason was because he had to surface mount all the electrics in steel conduits (my house was a tiny old horse barn previously and all the walls are still exposed brick) he would have had to run twice as many steel pipes to return the ring which would have looked odd. Non-ring circuits could be perfectly acceptable, it just seemed odd to me.

It sounds like I should cut my losses and get a more 'seasoned' electrician out to check it out. Although, I'm not sure how I can tell in advance if someone is 'seasoned'. I live in South London so I'm sure there are many in the vicinity, but I'd estimate that all 3 that I've used so far are in their 20's.

 

[GMES]

Please take the advice already offered and get a quality Electrician in this could be a very serious fault, if you don't mind posting your area then there may be a member close by and you will know they are good because other members will recommend them.

 

[BuzzyHolly]

I'm in Deptford in South East London, SE8 - anyone nearby?

 

[GMES]

Several members have worked for and with each other me included so there is a great set experienced Electricians to choose from obviously dependant upon your location.

 

[Darkwood]

As your work is ongoing I would hang fire regarding having other sparkies coming in as you don't want to fall out with the builders etc before the job is complete unless you do this on the quiet .
Nothing wrong with radial circuits, ring mains were for socket circuits only normally but nothing wrong with other types of circuit, his reasoning sounds valid.

Explain the tingling and buzzing to him and give your concerns.. if he cannot resolve them then consider other electricians, I was assuming this work was all done and complete when you said you had the house fully rewired, so my advise changes a little, hence I suggest to let him complete his work and issue the cert's ... if problems persist then get second opinion.