It seems like such a luxury, to be seen only in the mansions of the rich and famous, but underfloor heating is actually more popular than you may think. However, is it right for your home? Here are some pros and cons to help you decide.
Underfloor heating often allows you to heat a room without wall-mounted radiators, giving you more creative scope when it comes to the layout of your furniture and fixtures. It works beautifully under naturally cold flooring materials, such as tile and stone, and can be installed retrospectively, meaning it’s not exclusive to new-build properties. It’s easily tailored to your needs; for example, which room it goes in, the type of system (water or electric), and whether it is connected to a smart system, allowing it to be set to a schedule or turned on and off remotely. You can even set zones (with or without smart technology), allowing you to heat one end of a room while leaving the other turned off – this is useful in an open plan space.
A wet system features pipes and warm water, much like a conventional radiator system. It’s cheaper to run than an electric system but is a lot messier to install, making it worth doing during other renovations to minimise disruption to your home. If you opt for an electric system, bear in mind the additional running costs; it may make more sense to install it in a smaller area to minimise the expense, such as a bathroom or en-suite. If you are wanting to heat a conservatory, a wet system is worth the extra hassle; running an electric system in a room such as this can be prohibitively expensive due to the amount of time it will need to be running, and the size of the area. Another point to bear in mind is you may have to raise your floors to accommodate the installation of underfloor heating, which will add to any labour costs.
Is underfloor heating a luxury or an essential? Only you can decide, and we hope we have helped by running through some of the pros and cons of installing underfloor heating in your home.
