Installing a new kitchen or fitting double glazing? No problem. Underfloor heating? We seem to regard that with suspicion. It’s always been dogged by myths built upon half-understood assumptions that calcified into reputations. Yet it’s a common system in many countries, designed to deliver comfort, practicality, energy efficiency – and in the end great value to homeowners. In this article, we will bust some of those myths and explain why UFH is right for most people.
Myth-busting time!
Myth one: ‘Underfloor heating is impossibly expensive to run!’
UFH has a reputation for being eye-wateringly costly to run. But there is little basis in fact. A water-based system operates best at between 60° and 80°C, which doesn’t sound especially efficient. However, this ‘high’ temperature isn’t as bad as it sounds. Most people aren’t really aware that radiators operate much hotter than UFH. Modern underfloor heating systems are much more likely to work alongside a modern heat source such as a boiler or heat pump, which, when combined, make UFH more efficient than radiators.
Running costs should never be extortionate, unless perhaps the homeowner was unlucky enough to get a very badly designed and installed system with no real control over where the heat goes. However, even with these systems, they tend to be much more cost-effective than they once were. With UFH, if you’re planning a full replacement of your existing radiator system, a modern installation can sometimes be cheaper to run than what’s already in place. For Underfloor Heating Gloucestershire, contact //parsonsflooring.com/services/electric-under-floor-heating-gloucestershire
Myth two: ‘UFH is only workable on new builds’
This idea makes sense to a certain extent because UFH systems were indeed first developed in new constructions in Sweden and the UK in the late 1960s. That said, UFH is perfectly doable on a retrofit project, too. Electric underfloor heating is an excellent choice if you want to fit UFH under most types of floor covering in an existing room without all the disruption. If you’ve chosen a hydronic ‘wet’ system, then installing underfloor heating is also easier than people think. For example, a thin pipe screed installation is ideal for a bathroom or a kitchen extension or ground floor refurbishment, which typically requires demolition work anyway.
Myth three: ‘It will take too long to heat my room’
You may be told that UFH takes forever to heat your room, whereas radiators come on immediately when you turn them on. There is some truth to this myth, especially in larger rooms or where there is a lot of thermal mass (bricks/concrete) in the building’s fabric. That said, it’s hardly ever an issue. Modern underfloor heating is designed to work as a background heating system that provides constant, low-level warmth rather than a heat-on-demand alternative to radiators, so the delay barely registers.