# Underfloor heating wet type



## Pudsey_Bear

We are moving house soon, mid November, and are wondering about underfloor heating, the house has a solar heating system on the roof, so a handy low temp heat source, we both hate radiators, so a positive move would be to go under floor, but actually under the floor, not on top then tiled or yukky laminate flooring.

Does anyone know of or have had any experience of doing it this way?


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## trek

BIG job fitting under the floor unless its a new build

The whole floor will have to be lifted and then reinstalled , causing problems if dividing walls are sitting on floor boards

Do you have solid floors down stairs or suspended timber floors ?

Starting point https://www.johnguest.com/speedfit/underfloor-heating/


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## Pudsey_Bear

Not sure yet Trek, we're just at the thinking stage, but I think they are suspended timber floors, I am hoping that there is a high enough void below to afford access to do the lounge and bathroom, not bothered about the rest, there is a nice modern radiator in the kitchen, and we don't care for warm bedrooms, but do have them on now and then to take any damp out of the air.


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## trek

You could Consider a Myson kickspace heater for the kitchen

Its a wet heater matrix plumbed into your central heating that sits under a kitchen unit and when it detects warm water flowing through it it starts a fan which blows warm air into kitchen

For under floor look at these two options on the JG website

https://www.johnguest.com/speedfit/...eating-explained/system-selector/dry-systems/


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## kabundi

While lots of people have low temperature underfloor heating my view is that it is very difficult to control in most cases.

It is very slow to react when switched on and also relatively slow to cool down when switched off. You nearly need to predict the weather for the next day.


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## patp

A friend moved into a new build where it was installed. They say they have to have it on nearly all the time for it to be effective as it is so slow to get to temperature. During cold snaps they have to light their wood burner. Then if the weather turns warm they have to open all the windows! Chris was a heating engineer and we had the opportunity to install it when we renovated the house recently and he chose not to do it.

There is also the worry about leaks


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## Pudsey_Bear

you can have leaks on any system Pat, the pipes used in underfloor are both malleable and tough, and in most cases, encased partly in and aluminium plate to disperse the heat, yes they do take a while to heat, we set ours to come on about 06:30 to be warm by 07:00 then off til about 18:00 and the off til 06:30, weekends were a bit longer, but there is a button to turn it on or off at will, systems vary in their complexity, some are so simple there is only manual valves, one for each zone on a manifold, which can be updated as and when.


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## raynipper

Our house is always amazingly warm compared to all our friends. We have a south facing all glass conservatory that with 30 mins of sun will warm the whole house. But we also have one flat panel wall 2.5kw. wall electric radiator set to the required setting that again heats the whole house.
The secret is the insulation as the house was rebuilt 30 years ago with outside stone walls, sandwich polyfoam and then thermolite blocks lining the interior. Everyone else is burning logs, oil or gas like mad in the cold months.
OK not much help on underfloor heating Kev but insulation is everything.

Ray.


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## Pudsey_Bear

Insulation is a good thing, but you still need heat somewhere, and the quality of life is better as is furnishing a room with underfloor, if you can tie it in with ground or air source it's even better, I've not checked out the solar aspect yet, but will once we have moved in, and of course we will get several quotes for the job.


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## peribro

A friend of mine installed an underfloor wet system and thinks it was a waste of money as the heat doesn't spread very well and it takes a long time to heat the rooms up that it's installed in.

We have electric underfloor heating in several downstairs rooms in our main house and holiday home and find it very effective with excellent coverage. However it's only installed under tiled floors and wooden floors are a different matter. The controllers are "smart" in that for each room I can set it so that I tell it what temperature I want the room (or floor) to be at by a given time of day. The controller then works out (based on the room temperature) what time the heating needs to come on to achieve that. You can install similar smart timers / stats for wet systems I am sure.

An obvious downside of electric is the cost though.


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## Pudsey_Bear

The biggest downside is Choice Peter, one size doesn't fit all, and most expensive isn't always best, we will be getting plenty of quotes and checking the info we receive from each one, it may be to expensive, but as it is only for two rooms, we might look at electric too.


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## JanHank

Wouldn't swap our underfloor heating, it's fantastic. The house is well insulated and tripple glazing, temperature outside can reach minus 25° c in winter months, but we stay at 24° day and night. The floor acts as one huge storage heater and holds the heat between the times the boiler is working.


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## GMJ

Kev


We moved house in August and the new (to us) bungalow has UFH. The control area is like mission control at NASA and I had to get a plumber to explain it to me. It is 18 years old and was a bespoke system whereas I am led to believe that they are more 'off the shelf' these days.



We have 5 zones across the property and each zone has a controller with 12 programmable timeslots. When we moved in I fired it up and cranked the controllers up to 25 degrees to see what happened/check it worked.


As said on here it is slow to react but when it was on full chat bloody hell it was warm! It was also slow to cool down too. 



Our programmers in effect do not have an OFF selection...one merely sets the next time slot down to a lower temperature which switches it off unless that temp is reached. Therefore it is ON all year round although seldom cuts in due to the nature of our bungalow (wood/block build plus south facing with loads of window space). Typically we have ours set at 6.00am - 20 degrees; then 8.30am - 17 degrees; then 4.00pm - 20 degrees and 8.00pm - 17 degrees. The key is to remember that it does take time to heat up and cool down. With 'normal' gas fired CH we would have had it to come on 30/45 mins before we got up whereas now its 1h 45mins before we get up.


We are waiting to see what the winter brings in terms of its overall effectiveness.


Some observations: 



- Get wide diameter piping. Ours is only 10mm which is probably too small.

- I wouldn't want to run it on electric...we have oil!
- We fitted a wood burner in our lounge as its huge. This gives more instant heat if/when required plus we like a wood burner :smile2:


Graham :smile2:


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## JanHank

*Valliant boiler for underfloor hearing and hot water.*

We have 2 set of controllers/circuits Graham one upstairs one down with umpteen circuits in each.
It doesn't take long for the whole place to be warm and from the day its put on until its switched off in the spring the house is warm day and night, 22-24°C. It comes on 3 times a day for a few hours, can´t remember exactly when as it was set 12 years ago. Runs on gas.
The water temperature has a 1 to 5 adjustment, at the moment it on 3 the temperature I the house which is open plan is 23.6°C and its blowing a gale outside.
Adjustable thermostats are all over the place 8 downstairs and 2 upstairs.
In the workshop 5 x 10 meters, we have 2 double radiators and thats kept at around 17-19°C.
It gets *very* cold in the winter, sometimes -25°c, but we are super warm in the house.
Before anyone tells me its unhealthy to be so warm, neither of us have had colds, coughs or flu since we have lived here that I can remember, that probably because we keep away from those that have :grin2:>


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## Pudsey_Bear

Normally those who have it want it again, those who haven't don't get it, but you do need to think ahead, it's if the weather is changeable it can catch you out, but put a jumper on if it's too cold, open a window if too warm until it stabilises at the temp you like.

Liz's pipes were 15mm ish I think, at least that was the OD.

What I liked about it was you don't need to almost boil the water to get the rads hot, it all operates (in most houses) at a much lower temperatures, and you never burn your arse on the bathroom radiator, so there are downsides


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## Mrplodd

My father in law has it in his bungalow. He leaves it on 24/7 and his house is pleasantly comfortable at all times. He reckons he would NEVER go back to radiators! It’s a gas powered wet system set in a concrete floor (from new build) He has a controller/stat for each room (Very clearly and permanently labelled!) 

The main disadvantage to UFH is that it’s really only practical to instal it at the initial construction phase. As an aftermarket fit it’s VERY expensive and messy. 

The other option is an electrical system via heater mats which go under carpets/rugs/laminate etc, that might be an option worth looking at if you have solar panels. I DO have solar panels but, in the winter months, they don’t produce enough to power any appreciable amount of UFH heater pads. What I DO have is an adjustable oil filled radiator which I can set to use what my panels are pushing out but it NOWHERE near enough to heat all the house. It does a decent job of keeping the lounge warm during the day though. (15 yr old well insulated house with S facing conservatory) 

Decent insulation is a more important thing to consider, if your new property doesn’t have cavity wall insulation then that’s THE first thing to get. Fairly inexpensive but it makes a huge difference. I wouldn’t have a house without it now (third one with it)

Andy


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## Pudsey_Bear

Mrplodd said:


> My father in law has it in his bungalow. He leaves it on 24/7 and his house is pleasantly comfortable at all times. He reckons he would NEVER go back to radiators! It's a gas powered wet system set in a concrete floor (from new build) He has a controller/stat for each room (Very clearly and permanently labelled!)
> 
> The main disadvantage to UFH is that it's really only practical to instal it at the initial construction phase. As an aftermarket fit it's VERY expensive and messy.
> 
> The other option is an electrical system via heater mats which go under carpets/rugs/laminate etc, that might be an option worth looking at if you have solar panels. I DO have solar panels but, in the winter months, they don't produce enough to power any appreciable amount of UFH heater pads. What I DO have is an adjustable oil filled radiator which I can set to use what my panels are pushing out but it NOWHERE near enough to heat all the house. It does a decent job of keeping the lounge warm during the day though. (15 yr old well insulated house with S facing conservatory)
> 
> Decent insulation is a more important thing to consider, if your new property doesn't have cavity wall insulation then that's THE first thing to get. Fairly inexpensive but it makes a huge difference. I wouldn't have a house without it now (third one with it)
> 
> Andy


We will look at electric Andy, it might prove to be the only option, but we cannot use cavity wall insulation on this house, it's too old and would be difficult to install anyway the walls are very thick, and we think there may not even be a cavity in the strictest sense, it has loft insulation, but not sure of its depth as we can't get up there to check, we know the slates are back buttered, so think the roof is 100 years old and looking quite good. We have thermal solar panels, not electric.


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## coppo

Mrplodd said:


> My father in law has it in his bungalow. He leaves it on 24/7 and his house is pleasantly comfortable at all times. He reckons he would NEVER go back to radiators! It's a gas powered wet system set in a concrete floor (from new build) He has a controller/stat for each room (Very clearly and permanently labelled!)
> 
> The main disadvantage to UFH is that it's really only practical to instal it at the initial construction phase. As an aftermarket fit it's VERY expensive and messy.
> 
> The other option is an electrical system via heater mats which go under carpets/rugs/laminate etc, that might be an option worth looking at if you have solar panels. I DO have solar panels but, in the winter months, they don't produce enough to power any appreciable amount of UFH heater pads. What I DO have is an adjustable oil filled radiator which I can set to use what my panels are pushing out but it NOWHERE near enough to heat all the house. It does a decent job of keeping the lounge warm during the day though. (15 yr old well insulated house with S facing conservatory)
> 
> Decent insulation is a more important thing to consider, if your new property doesn't have cavity wall insulation then that's THE first thing to get. Fairly inexpensive but it makes a huge difference. I wouldn't have a house without it now (third one with it)
> 
> Andy


I have to disagree on the cavity wall insulation thing in some circumstances, cavities were introduced for a reason and to fill them up is a big mistake in my view, especially if the house is in an exposed area, I have seen lots of people having damp problems due to having it installed.
There are loads of potential problems, loads, what material is used, the whole cavity must be filled when in a lot of cases it isn't and cold damp spots occur, it is a complete nightmare to remove which some have had to do.
Cavity wall insulation may suit some properties but not all, remember that, it stops any airflow.
There are lots of cases of houses that have been problem free since build and then have horrendous problems after installation, damp, wall tie corrosion, increased condensation.
We for one couldn't have it, being over 1100 feet up on the moors although some of these joker firms think we can, our local builder said if we get it then don't ask him to remove it.

Airflow is extremely important and cavity wall insulation can make the house colder when it gets wet or the whole cavity is not filled.

Cavity wall insulation is usually ok if fitted from new in a new build property but even then you should have a small cavity, retro-fitted, be very,very careful.


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## JanHank

As it seems you need walls to be re-plastered Kev what about this


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## raynipper

Then some numbnut bangs a picture hook or shelf into the wall.

Ray.


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## JanHank

When this type of heating was shown to us 13 years ago Hans more or less said the same thing Ray,
You`d have to paint Muriel's on the wall >> as Hilda would say.


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## swanny65

A bit late maybe.....

I built my own place 16 years ago and have underfloor heating downstairs and upstairs. Its in a floating floor (yes i worried about a mouse getting in and causing a leak) and heats up a room in under an hour. We run ours 24/7 with a boiler flow of 60c. It is cheap to run, much cheaper than rads and you don't get hot and cold spots in a room. 

3 years ago I added an extension and converted the garage to a room. The underfloor here is in a screed, i agree its less controllable, but to avoid the too hot or too cold we set the thermostat a degree below where we want it and find, with it on 24/7, the room is always warm enough in the morning.

I have 3 manifolds with 2, 3 and 5 thermostat controlled zones. The original system was Unipipe designed (now owned by Upnoor) with the extension being Speedfit (i think). Biggest downside is there's loads more than can go wrong - 3 pumps, 10 zone valves, heads and thermostats and 3 control centers (got a spare one on ebay for £10). 

If i did it again it would be in a screed every time.


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## JanHank

swanny65 said:


> A bit late maybe.....
> 
> I built my own place 16 years ago and have underfloor heating downstairs and upstairs. Its in a floating floor (yes i worried about a mouse getting in and causing a leak) and heats up a room in under an hour. We run ours 24/7 with a boiler flow of 60c. It is cheap to run, much cheaper than rads and you don't get hot and cold spots in a room.
> 
> 3 years ago I added an extension and converted the garage to a room. The underfloor here is in a screed, i agree its less controllable, but to avoid the too hot or too cold we set the thermostat a degree below where we want it and find, with it on 24/7, the room is always warm enough in the morning.
> 
> If i did it again it would be in a screed every time.


Just added you to my list swanny :grin2:
https://forums.motorhomefacts.com/7...ou-still-watching-posting-68.html#post2994769


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## Pudsey_Bear

JanHank said:


> As it seems you need walls to be re-plastered Kev what about this


That's never going to happen, may as well have radiators.

Walls would be fine if only the owners had not got in a damp company to sort it out, and made it worse, only the bottom 600mm needs work, due to modern plaster being used, that and putting laminate floors and vinyl pain everywhere, the house is made from local stone it needs to be able to breathe.


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## patp

Our friends, that hate their system, have an air source pump. It was installed when the house was built. The engineers are always there trying to make it warm the house. The last I heard they have been told that it as good as it is going to be. I think if you want underfloor you need a faster response boiler like gas or oil or electric.


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## Pudsey_Bear

patp said:


> Our friends, that hate their system, have an air source pump. It was installed when the house was built. The engineers are always there trying to make it warm the house. The last I heard they have been told that it as good as it is going to be. I think if you want underfloor you need a faster response boiler like gas or oil or electric.


I think ground source is generally better, a lot more work to fit of course, but less fluctuations.


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