heating installation question....central or underfloor

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heating installation question....central or underfloor

17 posts & 10 voices | Started 10 months ago by transporter13 | Latest reply from totalshell

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transporter13 - Member

Basically....we have a property that has only ever had gas fire heating and a boiler that heats the water...we have an electric shower.

We are currently trying to decide which system would be better to install

Gas central heating

Gas prices a problem in the future?
Combi boilers having a short(ish) shelf life?
Higher install cost (maybe)?
Combi boilers freezing in winter?

Electric underfloor heating

Easier to install (i can do it myself..plus we have solid floors)?
Possibilty of solar panels in the future to offset running costs?

Can anyone give any pro's and cons regarding either system?
Anyone got underfloor heating?
What were the install costs?
Running costs?

cheers in advance for any helpful replies

Posted 10 months ago #
takisawa2 - Member

What about a "wet" underfloor system fed from a gas boiler...
The solar could be used to supplement the water heating, & would be of use year round. Having solar panels to run underfloor heating probably ok in winter, but surely likely to be turned off in summer ?
(Unless you have a mrs like mine).

Posted 10 months ago #
transporter13 - Member

I'd disregarded that system because I have fears of the submerged pipes failing and then facing a possible big repair bill.

is this an unreasonable fear?

fwiw...neither uf us have ever had central heating before and have heard stories of it being a dry heat..leading to more coughs and colds etc....if it mattters, we have a 5..4..and 7 month old children to consider too

Posted 10 months ago #
mastiles_fanylion - Member

There is also this as a compromise...

http://www.thermaskirt.com/

Posted 10 months ago #
teef - Member

Gas Central heating
There's a reason why people have Gas central heating - because it works - best money I ever spent on the house.
Why a Combi boiler - only suitable for flats surely?

Under floor heating
Expensive to run
How do you fix it when it fails?
Solar panels ain't going to be much good in the winter for powering the heating in Britain

Posted 10 months ago #
midlifecrashes - Member

If I were starting from scratch I'd want to know first how much heat and hot water was needed. Big house, small flat, walls, windows, lofts and insulations, all day heat needed for young kids around? Do you have an easy site for whatever kit you want, (tanks, boiler, controls). I'd want to spend a whole chunk of any budget on insulation if possible too. New flueless gas fires are more efficient than most other heat sources. High-efficiency (90% ish) gas fires plentiful too. Stoves are popular because they are great, miles better than open fires of the past. As has been said above, gas central heating just plain works, and a whole house warm at once can transform the way you use it and what you do. Combis are suitable for any house, we have one running a three bathroom seven bed Victorian pile. Alloy radiators are supposed to be better than traditional pressed steel too.

Posted 10 months ago #
transporter13 - Member

MF....that looks like it could be just what i'm looking for, cheers

MLC

Large area Ground floor flat for a couple of years yet...concrete? floor with carpet currently...

we normally dont need/use any form of heating until october through till maybe march..dependant on the weather..the boiler we have is used purely to heat the tap water..no water tanks etc...We have double glazing and upvc doors so the property isnt draughty at all...in fact, we as a family are very warm blooded in that we rarely feel cold...its just that the boss( :roll:) wants something better than the oil filled electric radiators that we currently use throughtout winter.

Posted 10 months ago #
Roter Stern - Member

A friend of mine built a house a few years ago and he uses geo-thermal heating with underfloor heating. If I understand him right the boiler works on the same principle as a fridge but in reverse and the cost to run the system is similar to a fridge-freezer too. The downside being that you have to drill a huge well to get to the water table below and the system only works with underfloor heating and not radiators.

Posted 10 months ago #
transporter13 - Member

seems a bit over kill for my needs tbh....just had another look at the thermaskirt and that looks very expensive..considering i'd need a boiler fitted too....meduim room cost @ £495

Posted 10 months ago #
mastiles_fanylion - Member

Cost of Thermaskirt is halfway between rads and underfloor.

Cost us around £800 for supply + fit - to heat the same area with underfloor was around £1200.

Rads would be as cheap as chi[s if bog standard rads, sky the limit if we got fancy ones.

Posted 10 months ago #
Bear - Member

wet system underfloor very nice, but choose your company wisely. Been installing u/f since about 1995 and not had one problem with buried pipework.

Just done a Thermaskirt installation - and if you want my opinion it is cheap nasty rubbish that doesn't fit together very well. None of the trims / corners sit right on the skirting, and the cost of the stuff is ridiculous compared to radiators.

Electric u/f only really suitable for floor warming as is very expensive to run.

Wet u/f cheap to run if you control it properly and have it designed and installed well (hence choosing your company as most won't do any design work)

Would never entertain a flueless gas appliance for principal heating, installed a few for people who I haven't managed to dissuade!

Posted 10 months ago #
totalshell - Member

Ok central heating installer we do underfloor fires stoves etc etc.

central heating/ dhw via a combi. use the pressed stell trad rads get a good make and check the kw value the differences for the same size rads can be HUGE. your dhw bills will be significantly smaller qualitry brands such as Worcester bosch now come with a low nox setting for Ch so uses less energy to achieve same reliable.. in 8 years self employed i've fitted over 200 and NEVER had to repair one that was the manufactuers fault. frozen condensate.. all man ufacutrers and installers took it for granted that they would nt really freeze sadly the last two winters proved otherwise, I am now offering a SIX year parts and labour warranty on WB. dry heat? urban myth..

Flueless gas fires.. are you having a laugh.. flueless certainly.. dont forget the 100cm holw in your living room wall for ventilation though you ll die without it and die of hypothermia with it!

stoves ( gas and others) nice to look at good converstion point.. we trake out more solid fuel than we install.. what does that say?

underfloor ( wet) takes an age to heat room then takes an age to cool down rarely meets in the middle regulary asked to improve the work others have done before, must be designed and planned properly

underfloor ( electric) spend time with your family under the stairs watching the electric meter go round.

Posted 10 months ago #
Bear - Member

Total - problems with wet u/f? you need to get the experts in! Too many companies just sell it to you without designing it, haven't had any problems with the systems I've used, apart from when tried cheaper companies!

Posted 10 months ago #
andyl - Member

I've just done the whole "what heating to install" things and have gone back to a combi boiler and rads for my 1 bed flat.

It is the most awkward to install out of the other possibles (wet under floor can't be done as concrete floors with tanking) but it will be the most economical in terms of initial and installation costs and resale value.

If you have a draughty flat then you need a heating system with a high dT (delta Temp.) ie radiators. If you have a well insulated home then the low dT systems like undefloor are best.

Even though I am renting my place out and electric will be the easiest for me - no listed consent, annual servicing/checks, possible replacement in X years etc etc I couldnt subject the tenants to the cost of electric heating. Even underfloor as I had hoped to install.

If I was going to be living there I would go the whole hog and get a powerful combi to run a nice boiler fed shower but I will probably stick with the 10.5kW electric shower in there which saves me messing with tiles. It also means there is still a way to get a warm wash if the boiler is out of action.

Posted 10 months ago #
NZCol - Member

We have a combo of ducted air source heatpump, electric underfloor and solar/electric hot water. All works very efficiently and cheap to run, our water is generally free for 2/3 year (water cylinder on separate ripple meters here so you can accurately track consumption), heat pump is very cheap to run and floors run mainly so they are nice to walk on.

Posted 10 months ago #
andyl - Member

wish I could go with a solar + heat pump system

Posted 10 months ago #
totalshell - Member

heartily recommend electric showers with combis unless your running circa 15 ltrs per min dhw.

Posted 10 months ago #

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