Does it work well and comparable to a ‘proper’ system?

*cocks rifle*

More seriously:

Installation cost is low
Low form factor – easy to install in minimum depth
Responsive, flick switch and on, doesnt need to wait for sufficient hot water to circulate to get up to temp.
Doesnt need integrating into existing wet CH system.
Independent control from CH
100% efficient

Against:
Electrical heating is THE most expensive way of heating a room
Still requires upgraded insulation for optimum performance
Still benefits from the additional of thermal mass (slab/stone/grout above insulation)
Independent of CH heating controls unless you modify things a bit.

ker ching, bloody expensive, doubles our electric bill over winter months

Mine works fine and is really noticeable when its turned off ! . Not as good as a pukka system but as a retrofit its a viable option imo.

Mine works fine and is really noticeable when its turned off ! . No as good as a pukka system but as a retrofit its a viable option imo.

What are the running costs like ?

I’d like to say I have some numbers but I’ve no idea, I guess that means its not that bad that I’ve noticed, it was only installed because we have porcelain tiles and it takes the chill off ( set to 18 degrees). As I say its not the best solution but I did not fancy the hassle of a full ch system.

Stoner – think you’ll find filling your wood burned with £50 notes and burning them to keep warm is more expensive.

BUT only marginally…..

Hah!
And there was me thinking it was the depreciation on Windhagers that was the most expensive way of heating a room 😉

Everyone knows they add value…. fool!

We looked at electric, but as soon as we found out we couldn’t put a nice woolly rug on the floor over it (the system overheats and burns out where the rug is) we decided against.

Rickos – is that true?! Rented a flat for a couple of years with electric under laminate and one of the simple pleasures was sticking your feet under the rug on a morning!

Fitting mine (under tiles) this weekend, only to a small hallway although it’ll hopefully take the chill off the tiles and lift the room temperature up now that I’ve taken the radiator out. Doubt I’d do a whole downstairs with it.

Gotta say ours never gets hot and is set to 18 deg so is unlikely to set owt on fire!

plums – I didn’t believe it either so I spoke to the people at WarmUp who sell all sorts of underfloor heating and they said it was a no-no.

Got it at home, the old meter used to go into overdrive spinning like mad, as it was so expensive and that was on cheap rate, it also needed to be left on all the time and let the thermostat and timer run it.

It was an old system buried in a concrete floor, unlike the newer mat types now.

Rickos – Were you going to put it under tiles?

No, engineered wood floorboards.

Crazy!

It’s good for warming bathroom tiled floors, we fit loads for people. But not for a primary heat source..way too expensive and TBH I dont think it radiates enough heat. If you need to go electric then there are a number of hi-spec oil filled radiant heaters you can get that are pretty good (efficient) these days. Try Rointe.

When they go wrong you need to find the reason and where……

fab in a bathroom with tiles, not great anywhere you need to keep warm for a long time.

I think Stoner has it right.

We have a 7m x 3m double-height extension heated solely by electrical ufh. It’s a 4kW system if I remember correctly, installed underneath the floor screed (100mm think). It has an intelligent thermostat which measures how long it takes the room to heat up, so that it knows when to switch the heat on in order to acheive the required room temp by the time that you’ve set, although you can also set the heat of the floor and leave it if you wish.

Because it’s an in-screed system, it takes about 2 hours for the heat to be felt on the tile surface once the system is on and the room retains the heat very well (I ensured the insulated roof and floor was very well covered – 125mm of cellotex top and bottom). The heat is very even throughout the room (right into the corners, under furniture etc), making it feel warmer than it is because of the lack of draughts caused by a single heat source.

I was worried about the cost of the electricity, and sure the bill has gone up as we have more house to heat now, however because the thermal mass is so high and the insulation so good the actual system is only on for about an hour a day for average outside temperature, I reckon it stayed on about half-power for a further 2 hours when it was -3 the other night.

Hope that helps?

Ben