Warmfloor 24V underfloor heating...does anyone have it?

7 years ago

We are debating whether to get underfloor heating in our new kitchen extension and I came across a product from Norway called EP Warmfloor. It is a 24V self regulating system which apparently is fantastic (according to the distributor). The problem is that I can't find out much information about it from actual customers.

Does anyone have it installed in their home?

Is it as cheap to run as they claim it is?

The initial purchase cost seems to be massive and I would like to know whether it is worth it or not. I love the idea of the provenance of the materials, it seems quite eco friendly.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Featured Answer

PRO

Electrician

6 years ago

Don’t do it I have fitted the system it does not work very well as output is only about 40/50w a m2 so rooms not warm enough. Also Matt is thin but wire going to it is thick. Connections to Matt are not good overheat and I don’t think will last. I have fitted many 240v systems and all worked well but these are between 150w/200w a m2 I would always go wet if you can. Andy Apselectrical

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Comments (20)

Isidora Markovic
7 years ago
Can anyone help Jim out!?
Joanna Bradley
6 years ago
I was also interested but could find no info from anywhere. Gave up in the end. Sorry I can't be more helpful!
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I am about to have electric UFH by ukwarmfloor.com - a norwegian system that has been around for ages over there. ( I do not work for them in any way!) Running costs are MASSIVELY cheaper than our versions. Over there, they instal the mats under roofs, drives and on the decks of icebreakers - they know a thing or two about snow and cold, and so I am giving it a whirl in my guest bedroom and large en suite. This is a response from the man answering all my many questions: "The system as shown would use a total of around 375Wper hour to keep all the areas heated to a constant 26C at floor level. By way of comparison the most efficient cable underfloor system would use 975W per hour to achieve this, whilst a boiler & radiator system would use 750W per hour. Comparisons in terms of BTUs can be a little confusing as most standard tables stating average BTU requirements for domestic situations are based on the heat output of traditional radiators etc. So our system only uses 375W (given as approx 1279BTUs in traditional thermal conversion tables)to do the job that a traditional boiler/radiator system would need 750W to do(given as approx 2559 BTUs). Our system is primarily designed specifically to produce the same air temperature in a room as other systems but to use less power to do so. The two basic reasons for this are: The heating element is self-regulating - only ever drawing the minimum required power at any individual point across the floor to maintain the set temperature. 2. The heating element heats the entire floor area and so effectively turns the whole floor of the the room into a radiant surface, heating the entire volume of air in the room from the bottom up. This is unlike radiators, which only heat a small surface, typically at the sides of a room, or a cable or piped underfloor system which can only heat thin strips of floor, leaving most of the floor surface unheated. Because our system heats the entire area it need only heat to 26C to produce effective air temperatures in the room. Other systems have to heat to much higher temperatures to do this and so require more energy to do so." I have spent an inordinate amount of time reading everything on their system, and I am going to use it. There is also a video of a customer installing it on youtube and the link is on their site somewhere.
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PRO
CKL Consulting
6 years ago
Electric underfloor heating is expensive to run unless you have solar panels - you can retro fit wet systems which run at 40 degrees as opposed to radiators which run at 70 degrees. Already an ongoing reduced cost. Electric underfloor heating is usually cheaper but wet system - overlay panels are 20mm with 16mm pipework. If the floor can take the incense in height. More info email me for details karen@cklbuildgroip.co.uk (specialist in underfloor and renewables) or call 07808 212971
liza Woodie
6 years ago
We too are looking at the Warmfloor 24v underfloor heating - and can't find any recent customer reviews....did you go with them in the end Jim Baker ?

I would love to know the outcome!
PRO
CKL Consulting
6 years ago
What sqm are you looking to heat and is the floor solid - property new build/refurb etc
PRO
ukwarmfloor
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Of course It's correct to say that in the past less efficient traditional systems needed 150-200W per m² to do the job , but that rather misses the point of modern low-energy systems.

Typically traditional electric underfloor heating systems would consist of a single 240v cable attached to a net, laid to snake its way across a floor surface. The cable would have to be heated to as much as 60-70C in order to produce enough heat to warm the volume of air in the room above, so power consumption had to be as high as 150-200W per m².

The new low-energy systems heat the entire surface of the floor rather than a thin cable width strip. As this means that it is the whole floor which is radiating heat upward, this means that the element can do the job when heated to the much lower temperature of 26C. This only requires 40-50W per m².. Less energy is used to heat more floor surface.

In addition, the Warmfloor system in particular benefits from the self-regulating effect of the element only ever drawing the energy required at any particular point to maintain the set temperature across the floor. So an area in warm sunlight will draw less power than an area next to an open door, etc. Less energy is required to maintain temperature.

I'm not sure why it would seem to be more likely that low energy connections would overheat than 240v connections drawing more power. A low-voltage, low energy system with a heating element that can be nailed through with no effect is pretty much problem-free, which is why we can give a 20 year warranty with no worries.
theresamcglone18
4 years ago
I’d love to know more too as the warm floor system sounds too good to be true
Dave York
4 years ago
If you'd like to contact us by email we can put you in touch directly with some of our past customers. We can't post their details on Houzz for obvious reasons - but we can give contact info to individuals with their consent..

The system has been used in Scandinavia for 25 years and we've been distributing it in the UK since 2012 so we do have thousands of satisfied customers to date. The systems have been used with no problem to heat everything from small domestic bathrooms to large public buildings such as schools and hotels.
theresamcglone18
4 years ago
20 year guarantee as well :) It just seems amazing and I’ve e mailed ukwarmfloor for references from past customers before committing
Tom Sandman
3 years ago
I am considering this product. how did you get on? what references did you get? thanks
theresamcglone18
3 years ago
Hi I contacted Warm Floor and they gave me 2 or 3 references to contact . Very helpful. I did contact one person but need to get back to her re the running costs as the house wasn’t occupied and another one gave me a number to ring him on . It’s been in the back burner for a while now with us .Warm Floor will do a full material costing for you as well if you send measurements and a basic plan , then you can get a good idea of the initial outlay.
Frank
3 years ago
"Pure maths" here ... whether a UfH heating system that outputs 50W per square meter is sufficient to heat your room depends only on the heat loss. Now you generally don't know this one precisely ... but you can get a good feeling for it by asking yourself "how do I heat it right now to make it comfortable ?".

So, say, you've got a sizeable open plan kitchen/diner with 42 square meters (6m x 7m), can you heat it to comfort (not "just about", but really, "to comfort") using only a 2kW electric fan heater ? A pair of two small type 22 radiators sized 600x500 (roughly the same output, 3000 BTU / 1kW each, back-of-envelope) ?

If so, then an underfloor heating system that gives 50W per square meter / 2100W for the entire area will be good enough. Otherwise, first look at upgrading your insulation notably before you "just try it" - in other words, make sure you get the heat loss down to suitable levels.
theresamcglone18
3 years ago
From memory - there is a possibility of upgrading the system as well so that it isn’t “just enough”for background warmth .
Frank
3 years ago
As said ... it all depends on the heat loss of your building / room.

A passive house (with near-zero heat loss / with actual gain) can be "heated by a candle", and it's actually a problem in such places getting the heat from, say, cooking "out" of it (don't get an Aga if you have a passive house !).

On the other end, a drafty 1890's victorian terrace with an EPC E will leak heat so badly - floors, walls, roofs, windows - that no efficient heating system replacement will get it warm.

That the old cable-based electric underfloor heating "cooks" your feet is true (my parents "upgraded" their 1980's electric UfH to radiators around 20 years ago ... because of that as well as the running cost). That carbon-film-based electric underfloor heating with its nice and even heat distribution is a much more comfortable "feeling" is also correct.

But if your heat loss notably exceeds the ability of of your heating system to introduce heat ... it won't get warm. "Wattage" ... is just a measure of heat loss / gain, Energy-per-time. If you loose heat at a rate of 1kW then you need to introduce heat at that rate to keep the room temperature the same.

My advice is: Get a heat loss calculation done first, before you embark on installation of underfloor heating. The manufacturers are usually rather willing to help with that, to make sure what gets installed is suitable for purpose.
PRO
ukwarmfloor
3 years ago
Hi,

Yes, if you email a floor plan of the areas to be heated we need to draw up a system layout and do the basic calculations to ensure that there is sufficient ratio of heated floor surface to volume of air in the room.

The reason that the system can use less energy than other systems yet still maintain sufficient warmth in the room is due both to the self-regulating heating element and the fact that the entire floor surface is heated equally.

As Frank says, thermal efficiency is dependent on balancing heat output and heat loss. Our systems produce equivalent heat but use less power to do so (think of a low-energy light bulb compared to a tradional type). So rather than an inefficient traditional radiator requiring around 100W per m² to heat the room, or an electric wire snaked across the floor requiring 130W per m² to do the job, our system will normally use around 40-50W per m² to maintain the same room temperature.
HU-771534506
2 years ago
Some errors here. Heat injected is exactly equal to wattage and energy used is kW x hours (NOT kW per hour which often quoted is a nonsense unit) giving you kWh. So heat loss must be equal to heat gain however clever the system. You may feel warmer with some systems than others because of the radiant temperature of the radiator (and the floor is effectively a low temp radiator). You may also feel warmer with more even heat because you get less draughts as a result of air movement. As Frank said, if your house leaks like a sieve there is no point changing the heating system and hoping it will save Fix the leaks first
Tina Bennett
2 years ago
I got it never again better of radiators
HU-321857785
last year
Hi Tina, we slso got it and have had serious issues with overheating at connection points. What was your experience?
isobelr58
last year
I have been looking at this product too but there seems little information from any other sources. Given this question arose five years ago does anyone have recent experience with it. Comments appreciated.

Warmfloor 24V underfloor heating...does anyone have it?

Electrician

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Isidora Markovic

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