Underfloor heating with radiators?

last year

Hi all - we're currently moving our kitchen into the biggest room in our house to make a new kitchen / diner/ living room. There are two external walls, one of which will be large sliding doors, and it's 30 sq meres in total.

My partner would like to get underfloor heating but we were put off by the heating engineer who said it doesn't work through engineered wood and also the astronomical running costs. We don't want to install the water underfloor heating as it's too disruptive and costly.

- Does electric underfloor heating work through engineered wood?

- Has anyone put radiators into the same room as electric underfloor heating? If so, do the radiators cover the BTUs for the room or lower? Does it work out super expensive?

Photos here of what the room currently looks like which I'm not sure is helpful - but shows how important it is that we do some home improvements asap!

Any tips v welcome!

Featured Answer

HU-266136148

last year

last modified: last year

weve lived with a wet underfloor heating system for the past ten years and its fantastic and low cost. however it does require good underfloor insulation so the concrete slab retains the heat (like a giant storage heater). so prep is key. if you can get it done properly go for it.

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Comments (12)

Lisa D
last year
We’ve just done same as you and moved the kitchen to the biggest room. We had wet underfloor heating installed whilst we were having the upheaval - they dug up all the subfloors. We have lvt tiles (look just like wood). No way could we justify the cost of running electric underfloor heating. We have it in our bathroom, and it’s on for an hour morning and evening in the winter. We don’t have radiators now but I would if you aren’t installing the full underfloor system.
Ella Heatly thanked Lisa D
mii2
last year
Hi Ella,
The previous owners of our house installed electric underfloor heating throughout downstairs under an engineered wood floor. We turned off everything when we moved in during a very hot summer - they liked 21 degrees all year so it was in daily use. Our electricity company insisted on a visit from an engineer (and bouncer) after a month as they thought we had either broken their meter or were bypassing their meter with such a drop in electricity usage as new owners. We installed central heating radiators soon after to match upstairs. When we lifted some of the flooring to install the radiators, the foam insulation under the heat pads has melted to form crispy black remains and had been at risk of going on fire - this was in places where there had been furniture and rugs that inhibited the heat escaping into the room. With the surge in fuel costs expected it would be prudent to prioritise running costs for any new heating system. Is that a functioning wood burner in your photo?
Ella Heatly thanked mii2
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Ella Heatly
Original Author
last year
Thank you so much - really helpful comments. Yes, it is a functioning wood burner - we feel guilty environmentally-wise using it too much, although that doesn't match with installing every heating system we can think of! @Lisa D do you find the underfloor water system worth the hassle / cost?
Leonie
last year
I’ve no idea if they’re any good or what costs are but I recently came across heated skirting boards which might be worth looking into.
Ella Heatly thanked Leonie
Susy Q
last year
Does anybody know the actual difference in running costs between underfloor and radiator? Obviously with the current price rises I really don’t want to install something I’m going to be scared to switch on because of the cost!
Ella Heatly thanked Susy Q
Lisa D
last year
Ours is new, just finished a few weeks ago so we haven’t tried it yet. I’m not anticipating running costs being anymore than the radiators. In terms of install cost, we moved the kitchen into another room so all flooring and pipe work needed to be redone, so it seemed a bit silly not to spend the extra on the upgrade. Probably added 4 weeks to the job while we waited for the screed drying. It has made dressing the rooms easier, anything goes anywhere
Ella Heatly thanked Lisa D
HU-266136148
last year
last modified: last year
Running costs depend on your personal usage. however most installations include zoned controls i.e you can control the temperature in each room. We make our own ’savings’ in two ways i.e. the boiler runs more efficiently at a lower temp for the water that circulates underfloor and we only heat the rooms that we choose to be in. In winter, for us, that means we typically often only heat our large kitchen/snug. combined with the fact you have no rads to work around and the heating itself is ’nicer’ (warm feet and evenly generated), makes it a great solution. the downside is you need to allow time for any room to warm up, but then it stays warm for some time. in our 5 bed house our annual gas usage is between 6 & 7000 kwh. YMMV.
Ella Heatly thanked HU-266136148
PRO
A Class Kitchens of Bedford
last year
For a large area it can be more cost effective to get a plumber system and it’s not as disruptive as it once was as it can be channeled into the the existing floor. Lvt and tiles work well as flooring materials.

If you opt for electric, it’s not normally used to heat the room and more to take the edge off, so it’s often suggested to keep a radiator in the space too and then you can use it if needed to top up the heat.
Ella Heatly thanked A Class Kitchens of Bedford
Cherub Pebble
last year
We have overlay wet ufh which we installed ourselves throughout our ground floor as we were having an extension and the original heating system involved the unsheathed copper pipes being laid into the concrete floor slab. The house is a 70s build and over time the pipe can fail, as we have seen in several houses nearby (the latest only last week!). We decided it was an ideal time to futureproof and change the downstairs heating whilst leaving upstairs as radiators as pipes are under floorboards so don't have the same problems. The UFH is great, only 20mm height increase on the floor. Heats whole room evenly and is so nice underfoot. Costs much less to run than electric UFH and also less than radiators as the water in the pipes is at a lower temperature than is need for radiators. You can do just one room or configure as required. We went with Wunda but other brands are widely available.
Ella Heatly thanked Cherub Pebble
88wj88
last year
Wet underfloor heating is worth the disruption and cost to install, as you have far more flexibility with furniture placement, and no cold spots in a large room. It also works well with your preferred choice of flooring. I have found that electric underfloor heating in a previous rented house, was extremely costly to run and some parts of the kitchen floor were hotter than others
Ella Heatly thanked 88wj88
juliet291
last year
Have you considered far infrared? You could put a panel on the ceiling (unobtrusive) or have a feature panel using your own photo. Very energy efficient, cheap to install, minimum disruption. They work by heating objects (like people, floors, walls) not air so good for allergy sufferers, doesn’t feel stuffy - supposed to be like heating from the sun so comfortable. I’m getting quotes at the moment, having discarded the idea of ASHP. We have solar, but I think electricity will become cheaper than gas before too long. Have a look at this guide https://www.theecoexperts.co.uk/infrared-heating
Ella Heatly thanked juliet291

Underfloor heating with radiators?

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