Installing underfloor heating to future proof the property

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jamiegw

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I am considering if we should install underfloor heating as a way of future proofing our property.

Currently the property has modern radiators (i.e. not cast iron) and a 2 old gas boilers, one for heat and one for water.

I understand that underfloor heating would work with the existing gas boilers, however our existing radiators would not work with a heat pump.

If we wanted a heat pump in the future, we would either need new oversized radiators, or we would need to install underfloor heating.

Therefore as the house is currently unoccupied and we will be doing some work on the floors to level them, should we take the opportunity now to install underfloor heating?
 
Underfloor heating is not efficient unless there is sufficient insulation under the screed.

Underfloor heating needs a heat sink of screed to work efficiently.
 
I don't usually disagree with the excellent pro's on here but I have to this time.

Normal wet underfloor heating encased in concrete screed certainly requires substantial amounts of insulation underneath but UFH does not need to be encased in a heat sink of screed to work efficiently nor effectively.

There are a number of new approaches to UFH, low profile overlay being one of them, that works very effectively with a tile, cement board or wooden top. In fact I'd even say it works more efficiently than an in screed UFH, as there is no thermal mass that needs to be kept warm all the time for it to be efficient.

It certainly wouldn't be a bad thing to consider if you ever wish to install a lower temp running system, in the UK, new reg ammendments actually specify lower system running temps
 
There are two ways to heat the home, 24/7 and do all you can to stop heat escaping, this lends its self to under floor heating, would be ideal for old peoples home.

The second is to heat only as and when required, this needs a fast re-heat time, for this we likely want fan assisted radiators.

In real terms cost means unlikely to install the likes of the Myson iVector these would allow fast recovery, but also really need plumbing in series not parrellel. So we tend to use programmable TRV's instead, may be linked to a central hub/programmable thermostat, and could even use geofencing.

The idea that heat pumps work better the less the differential is does not really ring true if also used for domestic hot water as we then need at least 65ºC to stop legionnaires. And it would make sense to use same heat pump to cool and heat, this can only be done with fan assisted radiators, so it does not make sense to have UFH even with a heat pump.
 
jamiegw said:
however our existing radiators would not work with a heat pump.
Click to expand...
They might.
Even if not, they can be replaced with larger ones at a fraction of the cost of underfloor heating.

A heat pump requires a flow temperature of 55C maximum, which is the same for a condensing gas boiler to work efficiently.
 
Ok radiators as an alternative is also an option. I think we would have to dig out some of the floor to accomodate UFH, or raise all the doorways. Probably more effort than it is worth.
 
Madrab said:
Low profile overlay system is 20mm, plus any floor covering
Click to expand...

I think our problem is that there is also no insulation below any system we implement. We also don't currently know what is under all the floors, so we need to do some discovery first.
 
The overlay system doesn't use insulation, the overlay board is a high density polystyrene (EPS400 being one type) and that is the insulation, then it has an aluminium top layer that acts as a heat spreader. All the heat heads up the way into the floor covering above. Don't get me wrong, like any UFH installation, it isn't cheap to install.

What material is the sub floor?
 
Madrab said:
The overlay system doesn't use insulation, the overlay board is a high density polystyrene (EPS400 being one type) and that is the insulation, then it has an aluminium top layer that acts as a heat spreader. All the heat heads up the way into the floor covering above. Don't get me wrong, like any UFH installation, it isn't cheap to install.

What material is the sub floor?
Click to expand...

Is that a wet UFH system?

Sub floor: Also unknown. Things we probably should know before buying the property, but...here we are.
 
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