Underfloor heating systems?

What’s the best, most reliable, money no object electric underfloor heating system?

I don’t ever want to be taking this floor up.

There is no ‘system’ under the floor. It’s just a long plastic hose embedded in screed. In mine its the concrete foundation, tanked damp proof membrane, insulation, coiled hose, screed. It then just attaches to a manifold into the boiler. Quite simple and cheap in terms of the component parts. The expensive bit is the installation, but if you’re already building a house or extension then that costs nothing additional other than cheap plastic hose and the manifold.

So nothing under the floor to go wrong or maintain, or replace. Unless you drill a hole into the floor for some reason and puncture the hose, or there is an earthquake or something then its difficult to see how you can damage it.

My brother installed it through his ground floor on a wooden joisted floor, insulation between the joists, notched the joists to install the coiled plastic hose, biscuit screed, floor boards…did it himself, really really easy. But if you’ve already got a concrete floor then its tricky. You either dig it up and re-lay – very messy and expensive, or you look at one of these kit systems where there are sections of thin rectangular pipes which sit on top of your concrete foor – but they’re not well insulated so less efficient, and you get wet joints so leak risk (but easier to fix if you do get a leak) and raise your floor level. so not the best system.

I think the op is thinking of a resistance heating mat rather than a wet system. Personally if I waned to power my underfloor heating via electric I would still use a wet system and a electric flow boiler.

Elecrtic underfloor … how complicated/expensive can it be ? …. It’s just wire !!

I have Devimat stuff in my bathroom (floor and one wall instead of a towel radiator). Seems to work pretty well but struggled a bit during the winter cold spells (in that once it goes to eco mode it rapidly cools down and really struggles to actually warm the room even after a few hours back on full, more just warming the tiles). That said I think they only used 100W stuff, in hindsight should have gone for 150W or 200W.

I originally went with the fancy WiFi/app controlled ‘smart’ thermostats but they were a nightmare (I work in IT and couldn’t get them working and the support is a joke). Switched to the touchscreen models and they’re fine (rarely need to adjust them anyway).

I actually wanted to use Schluter Ditra stuff which seems to be more top end pricing, I liked the integrated matting/backing (heat duo range) but also mostly as they specifically mentioned wall suitability. But the plumber couldn’t get hold of the kits in time and recommended the Devi stuff.

It’s been pretty expensive to run, at least my electricity bill has been about £40 extra a month since it was fitted and I can’t think what else I’ve been using recently that would account for the change. That said during the last warm spell it’s been like a sauna in there so need to adjust the full vs eco timings (it’s basically never off, just either set to 34c for full and 9c for eco).

Using it on a wall (towel hooks on same wall) has worked even better than I’d hoped, the towels insulate the tiles so the tile temp is actually about 45c so properly dries them (I was worried it would be more in the 20’s and just warm the towels a bit and take hours to dry them).

Electric heating is the most expensive to run possible (bar Economy 7, which is the second most expensive)

Unit price is 4 * that of gas.

Aye, but sometimes it’s still a winner. I’ve used it in a small, internal bathroom before. Only a few hundred watts total, just to take the chill off the tiles underfoot. Only on for a few hours a day total. A few pennies a day extra, counted against a really simple install and no need to do the wet underfloor faff.

Doesn’t stack up for actually heating a room, but the warm feet thing was great!

It’s not *all* about the running cost.

That said, wouldn’t use electic ufh to actually heat a big room.

Would anyone recommend a way of running UFH for a large kitchen off a combi boiler?  Total area about 4m by 10m .

Was thinking a blender valve on a dedicated loop off the central heating loop?

Electric heating is sometimes the only option. Also air source or ground source electric systems can be very efficient in the right circumstances.

Not everybody has access to gas (even in cities)

Keith

Just create an s plan type system off the boiler with 2 zone valves one for radiators one for underfloor. Easiest to use a manifold that would most likely be included in a single zone pack from a manufacturer.