Having a good heating system at home is a necessity. If you’ve been considering switching to underfloor heating, the questions that linger in your mind are whether it’s effective at heating your home and how you can get the most out of it. We’re here to answer your questions.
What is Underfloor Heating?
Underfloor heating (UFH) is a central heating system that uses either water or electrical elements to heat the floor. The elements embedded beneath a finished floor are then conducted, radiated and convected to create heating for an entire household or structure.
How Does Underfloor Heating Work?
Unlike radiators which mainly just heat the air, underfloor heating generates radiant heat to create a more constant supply of warmth enough to cover an area while having fewer possibilities of having cold spots.
Underfloor heating and radiant heat emitted from the floor give warmth at the floor level and provide a more uniform heat dispersion than conventional heating techniques. This means that the entire floor functions as a massive radiant heater, heating people rather than objects and avoiding overheating and energy waste.
Benefits of Underfloor Heating
The main benefits of underfloor heating lie in its ability to heat a room more evenly than traditional radiators can. Because underfloor heating works by emitting heat upwards rather than downwards, it creates a warm and even temperature throughout the room. Moreover, because it provides this type of heat without needing to be switched on or off, you don’t need to worry about ambient temperature levels; underfloor heating will provide continuous warmth throughout your home all year round.
Types of Underfloor Heating
There are two types of underfloor heating, hydronic or ‘wet’ underfloor heating and electric underfloor heating.
Wet underfloor heating
Wet UFH is best installed on the get-go of constructing your home. They are basically underfloor pipes concealed within the floor, powered by boilers or heat pumps. With that said, the flow and pressure should be thoroughly tested before and during installation to avoid any possible leakage related problems. It’s also highly advisable to insulate your pipes, especially external ones. This should help prevent freezing of the pipes, which may cause the pipes to break and split in the long run.
Electric underfloor heating
On the other hand, electric underfloor heating is best used in a smaller area or structure as using electricity as a source of heat is more expensive than wet underfloor heating. For this type of UFH, you need to check for possible faulty wirings before installation, the system power output, thermostat settings, area airflow, and even the type of floor covering you’re using.
Is Underfloor Heating Enough to Heat a Room?
Yes, it is. It can generate enough heat to have a warm and comfortable environment to live in as it is an energy-efficient method of heating a home.
Given that the household or structure is checked for compatible floor covering, properly installed electric wiring or pipes, proper thermostat programming, external and internal pipe insulation and is being regularly serviced and checked —underfloor heating is an incredibly effective way of heating your room or property without having to worry about patchy heating in some areas of your home.