Who doesn’t love the feeling of walking barefoot on a heated floor on a cold winter’s day? As well as giving you a warm fuzzy feeling inside, there are many advantages to installing underfloor heating in your home. That being said, underfloor heating is a big investment to make and may not be suitable for your property, so you shouldn’t make the decision to install underfloor heating without a lot of prior thought.
The main advantage of underfloor heating is that its energy efficient and therefore, more environmentally friendly and cost effective. An underfloor heating panel heats a larger portion of your room more effectively, than an equivalent sized radiator does. Underfloor heating generates radiant heat, which is even and ambient, allowing you to feel warmer when turned to a lower temperature. Overtime, this can save you money on your energy bills and reduce your contribution to climate change.
The main downside however is that underfloor heating is expensive to install. Therefore if your main reason for installing underfloor heating is to save money on your energy bills, you may want to think about how long you plan to stay in your property, to see if it’s worth the financial investment. If you wish to sell or rent your property in the future as a “luxury” or “high spec” property in the near future, then you may think that underfloor heating is a worthwhile investment. There are also practical things to consider. Underfloor heating is difficult to install if you have an older property. Unlike a traditional wall mounted radiator, your underfloor heater will take a long time to heat the room up, so a timer is essential.
So, whilst it may not be for everyone, installing heating can be a great way to invest in your home’s energy efficiency, not to mention making it a cosier place to be on a dark winter’s night.
If you do choose to install underfloor heating I’d recommend that you also take other steps to insulate your home and make it more energy efficient. These steps include: cavity wall insulation, installing draught excluders on letter boxes, doors and windows, making sure your windows are double glazed and replacing your old boiler with an A rated condensing boiler. These measures combined, will help your home to retain heat. They could cut your bills by £300 a year and your carbon emissions by 1.5 tonnes.
This is a guest post by Russell Bowes
I had never really thought about it before but it would be a good investment. It would also give me more wall space if I got rid of some radiators.
I always love under floor heating, it’s such a novelty when we’re away somewhere! However, at home we are always so warm, so I don’t think it’s for us! xx
I would absolutely love to have underfloor heating one day. If has always been appealing getting out of bed onto a nice warm floor x
I would absolutely love to have underfloor heating one day. If has always been appealing getting out of bed onto a nice warm floor. x
Underfloor heating was something I looked at when I renovated my house. Although it’s n efficient way to heat the room and gets rid of ugly radiators it was just too big an expense for me.