All about underfloor heating

BRR … When the days gets colder, it’s great when you get back in warm and comfortable home. Your feet will appreciate that as well. You can crawl on the sofa with fluffy slippers on, but with good underfloor heating that is no longer necessary. Therefore you can read all about underfloor heating here in this article.  What is underfloor heating?

Underfloor heating is a heating system that eliminates the need for bulky radiators and saves energy at the same timel. Underfloor heating is a heating system that is built into the floor. See it as a network of heating pipes that is not running along the wall to feed the radiator, but heating pipes that run under the floor and that turn the floor into a giant radiator itself. The tubes are made of plastic.

How does it work?

A floor heating system heats a room evenly by means of heat radiation. A thermostat regulates the temperature, preferably per room. In most cases the pipes are connected to a central heating system, just like with common radiators.

Underfloor heating vesus radiators

The big difference between underfloor heating and the traditional radiators: whit a radiator a lot of heat comes from the atcual location where the radiator is positioned. So bad luck so if you are far away from that spot, because then you will have no benefit from that heat. With underfloor heating, a large heated surface (the floor), warms the whole room in a very pleasant and even way.

The benefits

• A pleasant even warmth, because a large surface is heated.
• No radiators in your room. That is not only beautiful, but also creates space.
• Underfloor heating can also cool. Not a luxury, given the prediction that we are going to get French summers:)
• Less energy consumption than with ordinary radiators. This is because when a boiler needs to heat up the water heating to 90°c. After the water is circulated in the house it will be cooled down to 70°c. Then the water must be reheated up to 90°c. That warming up takes a lot of energy. With undeefloor heating the boiler warms up the water at to 50°c and it will cools down to 40 ° c, so the boiler needs less effort to warm up the water to again.

The disadvantages

• Underfloor heating is really only suitable for new construction homes or when major refurbishment is taking place. The plastic pipes are embedded in the floor. There is an alternative to most used screeded way of construction, but als her your house will be completely turned upside down.
• Leakage in the system? Then the floor needs to be opened up.
• Large Windows can cause a ‘cold front’ if htat hasn’t been taking into account when designing the pipe layout. Being in Scotland, the land of great views, but with a challenging climate as well, the Scottish underfloor heating installer Incognito Underfloor Heating Edinburgh takes this into account by increasing the density of the pipes clos to big glas area’s. 

Electric or water

The tubes of the underfloor heating system can be heated in two ways: electric or by means of water. The water method is more favorable for the energy bill, because the electricity has to come all the way from the power plant (such as all electricity), making it highly inefficient.

As a main or as an auxiliary heater?

This depends on how well the room is insulated. In case the room has double glazing and cavity wall insulation, then underfloor heating can be used as main heating. If the room insulation isn’t as good, then it must also be heated with radiators. In that case the floor heating creates a comfortable floor temperature, and slippers are no longer necessary.

Floor heating under a wooden floor

Floor heating can be placed under a wooden floor. In that case the wood schould not be too thick, because wood is also a good insulator. Because of the characteristics the floor will also warm up much slower. At the same time the wood keeps the heat longer, allowing you to turn off the heating faster, while the floor still gives off heat. That, in turn, saves energy!