Converting radiators to under floor heating?

AHarvey

AHarvey

AHarvey

Soldato
Joined
6 Mar 2008
Posts
10,084
Location
Stoke area
Hey,

I'd like to remove our radiators and look at moving to under floor heating.

We have raised cavity flooring in the downstairs which may cause some issues, but has anyone does this?

Is it just a case of removing radiators and replacing with a hose/tube system under the existing flooring or would we need to rip the entire lot out and start from scratch?
 
I'm also interested in this. I think you can get a green deal loan for it too, with cash back if you book the work by end of June I believe. Anyway isn't a raised floor an advantage if anything?
 
It would more than likely need to be a "new" system and it very much depends on what the existing floor is made of. Underfloor heating is excellent and more often than not is cheaper to run, is a radiant heat system and has less air currents so you eliminate cold spots in rooms. The thing to bare in mind though is that underfloor heating performs best when it has a thermal mass over it, to heat up first. This is why its usually laid over insulation and within the screed of the floor, heating heats up the screed, screed radiates the heat into the room over a period of time.
 
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We just set up a family business installing heat pumps and are running our ground source heat pump through underfloor heating in the office. It was my first experience of underfloor and i have to say it really is fantastic, its not for everyone as some installations wont be as efficient due to room sizes etc but if you can, i would go for it without a doubt.
 
pitchfork said:
Remember it's less efficient underfloor.

By the time you've ripped your floors up you might as well be starting again.
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I thought it was more efficient due to the heat heating the whole room evenly, rather than relying on convection and ending up with one area hotter than the others?

Could be wrong of course.
 
abbotsmike said:
I thought it was more efficient due to the heat heating the whole room evenly, rather than relying on convection and ending up with one area hotter than the others?

Could be wrong of course.
Click to expand...

If you use it properly, and it was installed correctly, it is more efficient, but those are big ifs.
It depends a lot on the material the floor is made out of too. Thick carpet is a big no for instance.
 
I lived in a place that had underfloor heating, the valves and plumbing necessary was pretty complex. From what I can see it was a set of valves for each of the zones but all in the boiler room.
It was excellent though, brought the room temp up nicely and was much better than we imagined it would be.

Current place has electric underfloor under the tiles of the kitchen which is in our extension. Works very well too.
 
abbotsmike said:
I thought it was more efficient due to the heat heating the whole room evenly, rather than relying on convection and ending up with one area hotter than the others?

Could be wrong of course.
Click to expand...
In theory it's more efficient - in a totally empty room yes.

But once furniture is place atop the floor the efficiency decreases greatly.
 
AHarvey said:
Hey,

I'd like to remove our radiators and look at moving to under floor heating.

We have raised cavity flooring in the downstairs which may cause some issues, but has anyone does this?

Is it just a case of removing radiators and replacing with a hose/tube system under the existing flooring or would we need to rip the entire lot out and start from scratch?
Click to expand...

Start from scratch. You'll need to spend 5 figures too.

All the flooring has to come up.

Can get you a pic of all the pipe work for mine if you're interested? (basically all the valves and crap in the boiler room)
 
yeah a pic would be good :)

Lots of info and ideas in here, all good too. I am hoping to install solar panels for heating water onto my garage/car port + a massive water storage tank. Then ideally use that to the run hot water for the house with a combi boiler where needed, it should be useful for the heating.

It looks like I would need to rip all the current flooring back, floor boards to reveal joists, add wood underneath to strengthen and lay the insulator/pipes on top of, then add a flooring surface on top.

What I need to do is price it up, see what value it would add and then decide whether it is worth it. This year is about adding value to the house so we can sell and buy some land for living on.
 
mattyg said:
How so?
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Heat rises, most furniture will absorb the heat as will any nice flooring you lay down.

To demonstrate how powerful this is, hold a piece of paper over a standard rad. You'll see it waft and flap about as the warm air rises. Now put a teatowel on top of it, it will stop.

People putting stuff on top of heating sources makes it super inefficient.
 
You'll need a thermostat for every room plus one upstairs for your rads. You'll also need a valve on your main supply for upstairs rads so it's not permanently on (controlled off your upstairs thermostat). Your manifold ideally needs to be at a central point in your house. Bear in mind your insulation will be around 4" thick and then 3" for the screed layer, great if you've got high ceilings and door frames, not so much if they are low. So you might need new doors, new carpet, tiles or whatever plus plastering. An electrician for the wiring and a plumber for the heating.
 
mattyg said:
Ah Pentair do self regulating cable.

http://www.pentairthermal.co.uk/pro...ng/?id=tcm:445-38161&catid=tcm:445-17766-1024
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pitchfork said:
Heat rises, most furniture will absorb the heat as will any nice flooring you lay down.

To demonstrate how powerful this is, hold a piece of paper over a standard rad. You'll see it waft and flap about as the warm air rises. Now put a teatowel on top of it, it will stop.

People putting stuff on top of heating sources makes it super inefficient.
Click to expand...

See previous answer
 
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