underfloor or rads heating

kenwhos

I,m really confused in what heating system to put in. Rising walls are at a stage that i can pour a subfloor and then i have 175mm left. 100mm insulation and 75mm screed. I have planned to use a condensing boiler.Heard so many disadvantages on underfloor heating.Such as to long to heat up,costly on fuel. Has to be running the whole time to keep heat in the screed. Is Rads a better option. Have to decide this weekend.If there`s anybody who has underfloor heating give me your honest opinion on it.

ninjaBob

I went with 125mm insulation, 50mm screed and underfloor heating. It's been running for a month now and the house is very warm.

So I'm pretty happy with it so far (although I await my first ESB bill...)

sinnerboy

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055621243

mr_edge_to_you

This argument has been covered numerous times. If you do a search you'll find great debates. We went with ground source heatpump so ufh was always going to be a winner. From what i've seen here most people reckon that rads work best oil and ufh is better suited to a constant lower temp heat which heatpumps deliver. I know quite a few people personally who find ufh very expensive with oil. What renewables are you going with?

kenwhos

I,m going to install Solar Panels which be on the roof of the house. At the moment i have an insulated pipe (Duo Flex) with two 1 inch pipes heading from the garage to the house 8 meters long. Also have two 4 inch ducts with long 90 degree bends. Has anyone heard of a buffer tank linked to the underfloor heating. If i was to put that in the garage would i need another insulated pipe.

paddy147

As a builder recently said to me,under floor is all well and good,but a good modern zoned rad system and decent insulation is just as good and you still have rads to dry your families clothes on,when theres a rainy day (especially with large family or young kids to wash and dry clothes for).

Its a simple thing that is so often overlooked by alot of people when doing the heating system in a house.

Something worth considering.

mr_edge_to_you

paddy147 wrote: »

As a builder recently said to me,under floor is all well and good,but a good modern zoned rad system and decent insulation is just as good and you still have rads to dry your families clothes on,when theres a rainy day (especially with large family or young kids to wash and dry clothes for).

Its a simple thing that is so often overlooked by alot of people when doing the heating system in a house.

Something worth considering.

all very valid points but if you put in ufh heating now(regardless of the heat source) it allows you more options down the line should things change. it is easy to retrofit a heatpump - not so easy ufh.

tred

paddy147 wrote: »

As a builder recently said to me,under floor is all well and good,but a good modern zoned rad system and decent insulation is just as good and you still have rads to dry your families clothes on,when theres a rainy day (especially with large family or young kids to wash and dry clothes for).

Its a simple thing that is so often overlooked by alot of people when doing the heating system in a house.

Something worth considering.

Agree with Paddy. increase ur budget on insulation and drop your budget on the complicated heating systems!. a well installed modern zoned rad system is well proven at this stage. Consider underfloor maybe in some tiled areas kitchen/halls etc? for comfort. Thats in my plan,Ill let you know if i come across any problems.

dlambirl

my cousin put in geo thermal heating with UFH. They are almost broke with the ESB bills they recieve. They spent Christmas and most of January in their parents house because of the frost and the pipes freezing and the house's artic conditions.
We were all building our houses along the same time and He was pestering us to put in the geo thermal system. So glad we didnt now. We put in Oil and Solid Fuel with Rads.

ninjaBob

Can't say I've experienced that problem (although I await my ESB bill). All the trades working in the house since January have been commenting on the heat in the house.