Choosing underfloor heating

So, what are the benefits of underfloor heating. Firstly, not having to use radiators or electric heaters means freeing up valuable space for furniture placement and the heat radiates uniformly from all over the floor. Additionally, you can eliminate the hazards of using electric fan or bar heaters in wet areas.  And finally, underfloor heating can be much of economical to run than radiators or fan/bar heaters and of course, you'll be doing your bit for the environment.!

Once installed, there's very little maintenance.  However, if there is a problem, ripping up the floor to access the problem area can be costly, time heavy and not to mention the inconvenience caused by not having the use of the room in which the underfloor heating is installed.
It can also be costly to install, especially if you want to install it under existing flooring. If you are creating new floors from scratch in a new build, an extension or if you are going to be replacing the flooring in a space, then underfloor heating may be a great choice. Having to rip up existing flooring, however, may be more work than you are willing to do so you need to weigh this up when making your decision.

The options

Floor heating type: Mats For tiled floors or concrete floors

• Mats can't be shortened so they need to be the correct size or smaller than the room
• Toilets, vanities, spa's etc their area needs to be subtracted from the floor size
• Floor needs to be water proofed and spotless for the mat to stick to it
• Mats work best above the scree.  Placing them beneath the scree will make the heating inefficient and may not result in proper heating, not to mention, costly
• Floors need to be marked as to where the vanity, toilet etc are being located before the mat can be laid
• Conduit from the controller position to the floor coming out 1 inch into the scree (Groove in scree is required) with draw wires installed.  This needs to be installed before walls and water proofing is installed

Floor heating type: Loose wire mats - For tiled floors or concrete floors

These heaters go inside the scree.  An  amount of extra wire can be bunched at 50mm spacing rather than 100mm to use up extra length but this is labour intensive

• Floors also need to be marked up so it is known where bathroom furniture will be located
• Cable length should be as close to the correct size as possible to reduce labour
• Mat is laid before the scree is laid.
• Conduits from the controller position to the floor coming out 1 inch into the scree with draw wires. This needs to be installed before walls and water proofing are done.
• Room needs to be clear of debris before laying
• When measuring size of heater, subtract furnishings, drains etc from the size of the room

Floor heating type: Foil heaters for wooden or carpeted floors etc

• When laid on a wooden floor, a vapour lock seal is required to stop the wood from sweating and buckling
• Mats can't be shortened so they need to be the correct size or smaller than the room
• Foil mats need a gap of 150mm-200mm from the edge of the room so that the carpet layer can do their job. This needs to be considered when measuring up room sizes.
• There are also insulating mats (stops heat being lost through the bottom of the floor), which can be considered depending on the floor type (concrete slab, wooden floor etc)
• Rooms need to be clear of furniture and debris
• Earthing continuity is important when laying these mats
• Furniture needs to be marked out on the floor so that mat isn't laid where it will be damaged
• Provisions must be in place to get the cold tails and temperature probe to the controller before the walls are patched etc.

Read more about underfloor heating here.