Electric Underfloor Heating Guide

Having underfloor heating in your home can be a great little luxury and an added way of keeping your home warm when its cold.

It feels lovely to walk on in winter and can remove the need for radiators, freeing up extra wall space to do what you want with it.

So why don't more people have it? Well, it certainly isn't for everyone as it can be awkward and expensive to install.

This article provides you with some great information on the concept of underfloor heating

What does electric underfloor heating cost?

There are a variety of factors that must be considered before you can calculate the cost of having underfloor heating installed in your home:

• Is it going in a new room or retro-fitted into an old one?
• Do you want electric or water electric underfloor heating?
• How big is the room you're putting it in?
• Are you getting professionals to do it or are you carrying out the work yourself?

All of these points can affect the total cost of your underfloor heating project. However, if you were to get in a professional you could expect to pay in the region of £65 - £110 per square metre of underfloor heating.

This is a general, ball-park figure and you should really contact a professional for a completely accurate price.

Electric underfloor heating installation

Underfloor heating can be very easy to install on new builds or modern houses. Because it sits in the floor, planning ahead on a new-build house makes installation a simple part of the construction process.

Retro-fitting to many newer houses can also be done with minimal disruption because they tend to have thicker floors that makes it easier to install the system.

However, on many old houses, the floors could be too thin to accommodate the system, meaning that the concrete floor might need to be dug up to allows all the wires to be installed correctly. This can prove to be very disruptive and increase the cost of installation considerably.

It is possible to do the installation yourself in order to keep costs down, however you will need to get in a qualified electrician to connect it up to the mains.

Electric underfloor heating running costs

The running costs are not just determined by the type of underfloor heating you install. There are other factors that could influence the cost. For example:

• Floor insulation - The better quality your floor insulation, the more heat will be pushed up into the room rather than lost into the ground
• The material on your floor - Tile and stone are great flooring materials if you have underfloor heating as they heat up quickly and take time too cool down. Carpet or wooden floors take longer to reach the desired temperature so will probably cost you more
• Room size - Obviously, the bigger the room, the more energy it will take to heat it
• Primary or secondary heat source - If you've replaced radiators with underfloor heating, more energy will be needed to heat the room to a comfortable temperature which may increase your running costs

So there are quite a few factors to take into account when estimating the running costs of underfloor heating.

A rough guide of running costs can be calculated as 2.1p per hour per 1m². You can adjust these figures to get how much it would cost for any room in your home.

Electric underfloor heating pros and cons

There are definitely some pros about having underfloor heating:

• You can walk in bare feet all year round
• Your floors can be warm even if you open a window
• Heat is distributed evenly around the room
• No need for radiators taking up valuable wall space
• Can be installed under a variety of materials
• Could potentially increase your homes valuation

However, there are quite a few cons to be aware of:

• Can be difficult to install, especially retrofitting to older houses
• The high cost of installation may never be recouped by lower energy bills
• Can take longer to heat up a room than radiators so you need to plan in advance if you want a nice cosy room
• Some large and heavy items of furniture cannot have underfloor heating below them, potentially restricting your choice of furniture and layout
• Installing a system thats too small could leave you with a warm floor but chilly room and the need to have radiators anyway

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