If you are thinking about installing underfloor heating in your home in London, you are not alone. There are numerous benefits, some of which many people are not aware of.
There are also a couple of disadvantages, the main one of which is that if you install underfloor heating in an existing home then the floor level will be raised in order to accommodate it and that means that the overall height of the room is not as much as it was. However, for most people this is not too much of an issue. Of course, it will not be an issue anyway if it is a new building because it will have been taken into account at the design stage.
There are two types of underfloor heating in London, either electric or water based. Electric is cheaper to install and, indeed, can be done by almost anyone with basic DIY skills, since it only requires laying a heating cable or heating mat. However, before you rub your hands with glee, you need to remember that electricity is not cheap.
The costs of running electric underfloor heating are considerably greater than a water-based system, so once you have covered the installation cost of water based, the savings on energy bills go on for the life of the building. It is a very important consideration.
Another point is the space that radiators occupy. You can’t put furniture in front of the radiators, whereas with underfloor heating in London you can put the furniture anywhere you wish. Furthermore, radiators can hardly be described as pretty.
People With Breathing Issues
Underfloor heating is also perfect for anyone with breathing issues such as asthma, for instance. This is because with a radiator system the floor stays cold and can even become damp, and this is the perfect environment for things such as dust mites to live and breed in. With underfloor heating it becomes too warm for them to exist.
Another big advantage of underfloor heating is that the room is heated perfectly evenly (provided you have used a liquid screed to cover the water pipes). So, there are no hot spots next to the radiators and cold ones further away from them.
Underfloor heating with water pipes is also far cheaper to run than radiators. Once the floor has warmed up it will retain the heat and only lose it gradually whereas when you switch off a radiator it cools very quickly.
These are just some of the many benefits of installing underfloor heating rather than radiators.
